Action! Children from Four European Countries Jointly in Film Worlds

In this school year, the Otok Institute is participating in the realisation of the international project for the development of film education AREM (Action!Research: A New European Methodology for Film Literacy) with partners from Italy, Croatia and Romania. This past autumn we launched the preparatory procedures, while the practical aspect of the research is taking place from January until the end of May 2017. All of the informaction about the project and particular workshops can now be found on www.aremproject.eu.

The main goal of the project is to develop and test an original film literacy methodology for pupils through commonly conceived film workshops in four partner countries, so that pupils may later use it in practice in different environments across Europe. The participating children between 10 and 14 years of age will thus watch two short films from participating or nearby countries each month, and then learn about visual language, the films’ topics and the places the respective stories come from through dynamic weekly activities. At the last workshop in May they will also watch a feature film with their parents, tackling topical intercultural challenges faced by today’s European society.

All the selected films will stimulate the children to reflect on people’s social situations, identities and different cultures, as the project also aims to enhance the values of intercultural understanding.

Particular emphasis is given to active mutual cooperation among children, parents and teachers in the process, including the web site and the use of social media. Two Slovenian films were also chosen last autumn in collaboration with Anton Ukmar primary school headmistress Gabrijela Dolinšek, Vojko Šmuc primary school headmaster assistant Melita Jelić, and psychologists, parents’ representatives and teachers in the chosen primary school classes Nataša Režek and Tatjana Čeh.

Sixth-grade pupils from two Slovenian primary schools, the Vojka Šmuc school in Izola and the Anton Ukmar school in Koper, who participate in the workshops, taking place over the next months also presented themselves on www.aremproject.eu:

‘’Well, born in 2007, super smart children in a super cool school. Could we ask for more? J We like to have fun, enjoy life and ourselves. We hate it when somebody tells us what to do, especially the adults! But do we have any choice?! Do your homework, study, be a good kid. It’s a neverending story! What else do we have in common? Watching movies of course,, so we are really glad that we have joined this project. Getting to know other cultures, thoughts and desires of young people from other countries … we like that! We also wonder how other young people feel about Slovenia. Maybe very soon we will be able to get to know each other and exchange some ideas.’’ 6b., Anton Ukmar school, experimental class

‘’Our classroom is very diverse, but also full of talents. Some of us are very good at sports, others are more artistic. We have been named best classroom twice, as we always stick together. Although we occasionally get new schoolmates, this never changes us. We believe in ourselves and we don’t care what others think. We are very chatty, but this can be an advantage, as we get sometimes chosen to present stage shows. There are 25 pupils in our class. When they tried to divide us we refused and we all insisted that they shouldn’t. Our parents were opposed too, as they know that together we are better. We stick together for better or for worse, and we like working together. We take part in various competitions, as we are very skilled and hardworking. We can be a bit mischievous, but we’re still the best.  Some teachers occasionally misunderstand us and think that we’re disobedient, but we have often proven that we can be very diligent and hardworking.’’ Špela and Zara, 6.c, Vojka Šmuc school, control class

The first results of the research will be presented on Saturday, June 3^rd, at the Submarine programme for children, a part of the 13^th Kino Otok – Isola Cinema international film festival, taking place from 31 May through 4 June in Izola, while the final findings will be published in autumn 2017.

The project AREM (Action!Research: A New European Methodology for Film Literacy) is being realised with the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA sub-programme, which is carried out in Slovenia by the national information office CED Slovenija. Taking part in the project are the Croatian Film Association, CineCultura, the Otok Institute and the main coordinator, Milano Film Network.

We kindly invite you to follow us on Instagram profile AREM_PROJECT as well.