European Film Day 2014

6 February 2014
The European Film Day is an opportunity to enthuse young people about European languages and cultures through the medium of film.

Held at London's 'global university', UCL, and screened in the Bloomsbury Theatre, the European Film Day is an opportunity to enthuse young people about European languages and cultures through the medium of film.

It offers teachers and students the opportunity to see original-version films (Spanish, French and German), with subtitles in English, in a full cinema setting and with an introduction delivered by UCL academics. 

More on the films below.

Details:

Day-time screenings FOR SCHOOLS ONLY

• The Spanish film, Pan's Labyrinth/El Laberinto del Fauno (dir. Guillermo del Toro, 2006) is open to students in Year 10 and above and their teachers. 
• The French film, The Class/Entre les Murs (dir. Laurent Cantet, 2008) is targeted specifically at Years 9-10 and above. 
• UCL Teaching Fellows will run a workshop after each of the day-time screenings to allow a limited number of registered groups to discuss aspects of the country's history, culture and politics as portrayed in each film, while exploring the medium of film itself.
• Teaching materials for these two films will be made available to all those who register for the screenings.

Evening screening: open to schools and the general public

• At 6pm, the German-language film Barbara (dir. Christian Petzold, 2012), PG-13, is screened in an open session.

For all screenings:

• A UCL academic will give a 15 minute introduction to each film
• All films are shown in V.O. with subtitles in English

Programme

Films:

Spanish-language film: 
Pan's Labyrinth/El Laberinto del Fauno, dir. Guillermo del Toro, 2006
In post-civil war fascist Spain 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world. Ofelia travels with her pregnant and sick mother Carmen Vidal to the country to live with her stepfather, Captain Vidal, in an old mill. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the centre of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be a true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

French-language film:
The Class/Entre les Murs, dir. Laurent Cantet, 2008
Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, this is an autobiographical film about a young teacher reaching out to a troubled class of underprivileged kids. François and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighbourhood. Cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. François' classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his methods.

German-language film:
Barbara (dir. Christian Petzold, 2012)
Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2012, this drama of human and political dilemmas follows Barbara, a doctor working at the prestigious Charité hospital in the East Germany of 1980, as she is banished to a hospital in the provinces as a punishment for an application to emigrate to the west. There, while harassed by Stasi official Schütz and secretly planning her escape, Barbara appears also to captivate an idealistic and handsome colleague. Is he falling in love with her?  Is he another Stasi spy? Or both?