On Wednesday 25th April, hundreds of French GCSE students flocked to the British Film Institute on the Southbank. It was a fascinating day dedicated to French film that was presented by Anglo-European School language teacher Sinéad Earley.
Throughout the morning a selection of French short films were shown. Following the viewing, students were offered the chance to share their opinion on the films, with the help of useful vocabulary provided. The films also gave the students a taste for what French culture is really like. A student on the course told me ‘My favourite part of the course was the introduction to verlan – it’s something we never do in lessons’. Verlan is a form of French where syllables are reversed so that ‘zarbi’ means ‘bizarre’ for example.
The afternoon saw the showing of ‘Les Intouchables’, a classic piece of French cinema starring Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy. The film had the perfect balance of comedy and emotive story line to keep all viewers entertained throughout.
The BFI is a great venue that offers a wide range of foreign language film study days to speakers of all ages and abilities. It aims to provide students with an insight into the film industry in foreign countries and to give students a taste for the culture of the country as well.
