Recommended for A Level or equivalent level French
Join us for our French A Level study day, led by Isabelle Vanderschelden, Independent film scholar and Educator, co-founder of Filta (Film in Language Teaching Association) and founder member of the Flame research group.
This study day aims to offer students the opportunity to see a recent film discussing social issues in France (working conditions, family) as well the role of journalists in addressing these issues publicly. Isabelle will introduce the film in English, providing relevant background information on lead actress Juliette Binoche, director Emmanuel Carrère and Journalist Florence Aubenas whose book the film is adapted from. General social contextual information and key vocabulary/phrases to discuss a film critically in French will also be provided.
The screening will be followed by a range of language exercises in French around the characters and social issues raised by the film. The session will also address genre and film style analysis. Students will also be encouraged to exercise their visual literacy and critical thinking skills in relation to the film.
Bring your students to HOME for a fun day out where they can engage in French culture, language and film outside of the classroom.
Screening: Ouistreham (Between Two Worlds)
Dir Emmanuel Carrère / France 2021
107 mins / French with English Subtitles
In the wake of the 2008 global economic collapse, undercover journalist Florence Aubenas set out to a city where no one knew her to find work. Queuing alongside other job seekers, she found herself at the heart of a society of displaced people. She eventually secured a few hours as a cleaner aboard a ferry. The resulting book was published in 2010.
In Carrère’s screen adaptation, Binoche plays Marianne Winckler, a fictional version of Aubenas, who relocates to the port city of Caen. There, she becomes part of a large community of people desperate to make ends meet. As well as recording the lives of the people she encounters, she witnesses a system that cannot cope with the demand of people whose lives have been upturned by a system beyond their control.
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