Education Booklet 2022

TUESDAY 30 AUGUST - FRIDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2022

MAREEL | 01595 745500 | SHETLANDARTS.ORG |   

WELCOME Screenplay began its education programme in 2014, and for the following five years it attracted growing numbers of pupils of various ages until 2020, when the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Screenplay was revived in 2021, shorter and with Covid-19 precautions, which meant that schools were unable to attend. We are back in 2022, still recovering from the changes and challenges of the past two years, but with a programme of films that we think pupils will enjoy but would normally never get to see.

As ever we have benefited from the work of the Discovery Film Festival for Young Audiences in finding engaging and great quality films – four of the week’s titles have been shown there and come recommended by a wide range of pupils and teachers.

Along with Discovery, we aim to introduce young people to films from around the world, outside of their usual Hollywood productions experience and to demonstrate that there is a life beyond Pixar and Marvel.

We are not offering cinema-based workshops this year. For the four Discovery titles we are grateful to Dundee Contemporary Arts for providing us with links to their comprehensive and detailed resource packs, which include suggested classroom activities and detailed information on the specific aspects of the curriculum to which the films relate.

Shetland Arts would like to thank the EIS, the Shetland Islands Council Education Department and Creative Links Officer Noelle Henderson for their support of this programme. Once again, we would like to express our enduring gratitude to the Discovery Film Festival for Young Audiences and its curator, Mike Tait, for all their help and inspiration. We look forward to seeing you again at Mareel and to watching some special films.

CHUSKIT Tuesday 30 August | 10am | Screen 1 | 1 hour 30 minutes | India | Dir: Priya Ramasubban | 2018 Lively Chuskit’s dream of going to school is cut short when she is rendered a paraplegic after an accident. She’s confined to life indoors in the company of her strict grandfather, Dorje. Chuskit continues to harbour hopes of school but Dorje tries to make her understand that school can’t handle her needs.

As life at home gets harder, her battle with her grandfather exacerbates. Caught in between their struggle are Chuskit’s parents and her enterprising brother, who want to respect the old world views that Dorje represents, but also want to keep Chuskit’s spirit alive.

Chuskit will have to get her grandfather to yield or she will have to accept the reality he has chosen for her.

Uncertificated but screened as PG. 8+ recommended.

Ladhaki with English subtitles.

Themes: Family relationships, courage, determination, making a stand, overcoming life challenges, self belief.

There is a resource pack, designed by teachers, available at: www.discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk/ resources/item/chuskit-resource-pack

JACKIE & OOPJEN Wednesday 31 August | 10am | Screen 1 | 1 hour 30 minutes | The Netherlands | Dir: Annemarie van de Mond | 2020 12 year old Jackie is a familiar face at Amsterdam’s famous Rijksmuseum, where her mother is a curator spending long hours looking after an important new exhibition of Rembrandt artworks. Left to fend for herself and her younger sister Piek, Jackie is a capable housekeeper, making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time. But her ordered life is suddenly turned upside down when one of Rembrandt’s most famous portraits comes to life right in front of her.

Will they find Aeltje in time before the world realises Oopjen’s portrait is an empty frame? A lively, humorous and heartwarming adventure about friendship and loyalty.

Uncertificated, but screened as PG. 8+ recommended.

Dutch, with English subtitles

Oopjen steps out of the painting to beg Jackie’s help. Jackie now has an even bigger challenge, hiding her new friend Oopjen from everyone whilst helping her to track down her sister Aeltje, who is herself the subject of a long lost portrait – and the spitting image of Jackie. For Oopjen, a woman from the Golden Age, the 21st century is a big adventure.

Themes: Strong, independent women, standing firm, family communications, loyalty.

There is a resource pack, designed by teachers, available at: www.discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk/ assets/general/Jackie__Oopjen.pdf

SHORTS FOR WEE ONES Tuesday 30 August & Wednesday 31 August | 10.15am | Screen 2 | 45 minutes | Various countries | Dirs: Various | 2018-2020 Once again the Discovery Film Festival curators have uncovered a fantastic collection of short animated films for younger audiences. These are films from Argentina, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA, each of them bringing a unique point of view from the part of the world in which they were crafted.

There’s a bird that finally leaves its cage behind and discovers a whole new life on the rooftops of Paris; a very tidyminded octopus who wants the glass in his aquarium home to be absolutely spotless; a tree slowly coming back to life after a harsh winter; a young astronomer and an old hunter shelving their differences to share a new vision of the night sky; a slug who thinks he wants to be a snail; we meet Mido, whose musical dreams come together is a most spectacular fashion … to name but some.

These short films are dialogue-free or in English, and will delight children from 3 years up and are a colourful introduction to the cinema experience.

Uncertificated, but screened as a U. 3–7yrs recommended.

Dialogue-free or English Themes: exploring your world, fitting in, standing out, being considerate to others, overcoming problems, sharing experiences, perseverance.

There is a resource pack, designed by teachers, available at: www.discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk/assets/ general/Shorts_For_Wee_Ones_2021.pdf

RIDE THE WAVE Thursday 1 September | 10.15am | Screen 2 | 1 hour 25 minutes | UK | Dir: Martyn Robertson | 2021 This documentary concerns an island family, the Largs, who live in Tiree. When their son Ben is bullied at school, his parents make the tough decision to educate him at home.

Ben rediscovers his confidence and his identity through his love of surfing.

Having participated in competition surfing worldwide, (and at 14 years old, the Scottish, under-18 champion), Ben is prepared to put his life on the line to ride one of the biggest and most dangerous cold water waves in the world at Mullaghmore, Ireland. If he gets it right, he joins an elite group. If he gets it wrong, the consequences are terrifying. Danger, opportunity, and dilemma collide, propelling Ben and his family towards an unknown destiny.

“This is a film that sensitively eavesdrops on family life, as soaring drone shots provide the visual attractions of dramatic

coastlines, blinding white beaches kissed by blood orange sunsets and mountainous waves crashing to shore in Scotland, Ireland, Portugal and Japan. Robertson’s skill lies in maintaining a warm human touch throughout. Larg could become a world class surfer but he is still an adolescent who needs to tidy his room, take his turn at emptying the dishwasher and stop being so hard on himself.” Allan Hunter ‘Galway Review’

Uncertificated, but screening as a 12A. 12+ recommended.

English Themes: striving to achieve your goals, bullying, family support, being different, finding your tribe.

There is no resource pack for this film.

SISTERS: THE SUMMER WE FOUND OUR SUPERPOWERS Thursday 1 September | 10am | Screen 1 | 1 hour 20 minutes | Norway | Dir: Silje Salomonsen, Arild Østin Ommundsen | 2020 Vega, aged 9, and her rather excitable younger sister Billie (almost 5) are going on an overnight hike with their Dad in the Norwegian woods. The hotly anticipated trip is full of bright sunshine, exciting discoveries and very happy moments until Dad, showing off to his daughters, manages to fall into a mountain crevasse and twist his ankle. Unable to move, he asks Vega and Billie to retrace their steps and get help.

Initially the girls feel lost and unable to manage but as their journey goes on they slowly learn to embrace the challenge and make their journey through the countryside one to remember. Along the way they will have some magical and sometimes mysterious encounters, but they bravely face their fears, find strength in each other – and discover their superpowers.

Uncertificated but screening as PG. 8+ recommended.

Norwegian, with English subtitles.

Themes: epic journeys, teamwork, families, finding your way, finding your inner hero, survival.

There is a resource pack, designed by teachers, available from: www.discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk/ resources/item/sisters-the-summer-wefound-our-superpowers-resource-pack

WHERE IS ANNE FRANK? Friday 2 September | 10am | Screen 1 | 1 hour 40 minutes | Belgium/Luxembourg/France/Netherlands/Israel | Dir: Ari Folman | 2022 A vivid, animated re-telling of the Holocaust’s youngest diarist, Anne Frank, as seen through the eyes of Kitty, the imaginary friend to whom she wrote the famous diary. Kitty is brought to life through an incident with lightning strike at the Anne Frank Museum. She takes the diary and goes in search of Anne and her family, their life before the war, their time in hiding and their ultimate journey to the concentration camp. Transported to the present day, Kitty is devastated to learn that people all over the world are oppressed and marginalised, and that we do not seem to have learned what Anne’s diary told us about the need for compassion.

In an imaginative attempt to discover history through a contemporary lens, Folman allows Kitty to unfold Anne Frank’s story and to ponder on its resonances with aspects of global upheaval in today’s world.

Folman dedicated the film to his parents, who survived Auschwitz.

Cert PG 8+ recommended English Themes: War, bravery, friendship, refugees, compassion, standing up against injustice.

There is no resource pack for this film.

YOUNG PLATO Friday 2 September | 10.10am | Screen 2 | 1 hour 45 minutes | UK | Dirs: Declan McGrath, Niasa Ní Chianáin | 2021 An observational documentary set in post-conflict Belfast’s Ardoyne, where a marginalised, working class community has for generations been plagued by poverty, drugs and guns. This film charts the dream of Headmaster Kevin McArevey and his dedicated, visionary team illustrating how critical thinking and pastoral care can empower and encourage children to see beyond the boundaries and limitations of their own community.

We see how philosophy encourages young boys to question the mythologies of war and of violence, and sometimes challenge the narratives their parents, peers and socioeconomic group would dictate.

This is an inspiring and frequently moving film, as McArevey and his team strive to challenge years of prejudice and indoctrination in one small corner of

Belfast and help their pupils to discover that there are alternatives to conflict and consequently, hope for the future.

Cert. 12A 12+ recommended English Themes: Conflict and its resolution, challenging histories, mutual respect, transformational teaching.

There is no resource pack for this film.

BOOKING INFORMATION Films will be open for booking from Monday 27 June. Please contact Shetland Arts Box Office on 01595 745500 with numbers, not forgetting to include teachers and accompanying adults. It would help if you could tell the person taking the booking how many pupils and how many teachers or assistants there will be. Bookings will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

We know that transport can be a barrier to access, so once again we will be offering assistance with transport, thanks to the ongoing and generous support of the local branch of the EIS. Past experience suggests that buses should be booked as soon as possible once you have booked your screening.

We would ask you to book the buses yourselves and ask the bus company to submit their invoices to kerry.llewelyn@shetlandarts.org

AGE RANGE Some of the films have BBFC certificates for age appropriateness, although we have included additional information and guidance when we think that would be helpful. For the ones that have not been certificated we have allocated a category (PG, 12A etc). Details about what these categories mean can be found at www.bbfc.co.uk.

In addition, we have made suggestions about the most appropriate age range, using judgements that have been made by Discovery and other children’s festivals and by ourselves based on years of experience.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss the content of any of the films.

PUBLIC SCREENINGS The education screenings are free to schools. If you or your pupils are unable to attend these screenings there will be public screenings of most of these films and many more at Screenplay from Tuesday 30th August to Sunday 4th September, where the advertised ticket prices will apply.

The full programme will be available from either online at www.shetlandarts.org/ screenplay or from Mareel, Bonhoga Gallery and various local outlets.

MORE INFORMATION For more information about the films please contact Kathy Hubbard on kathy.hubbard@shetlandarts.org

MAREEL | 01595 745500 | SHETLANDARTS.ORG |   