Into Film Clubs
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With the new year comes a fresh selection of exciting films now available for our members to stream on Into Film+. Each of these new titles offers something vibrant, intriguing and engaging for classrooms or film clubs of varying ages, giving educators the opportunity to access the power of cinema to aid their teaching efforts. From literary adaptations such as Little Women to inspiring documentaries, jump right in and explore our diverse and unique catalogue of films.
Little Women is one of literature's most beloved stories and this new version of the film digs into the book's themes in new and surprising ways. Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth are four sisters living in 19th century Massachusetts in the aftermath of the Civil War. With their father still away from home, the girls must navigate formative moments in their lives alongside their mother, and with the aid of their wealthy Aunt March. The literal boy next door, Laurie, shows affection to all four of the girls and in turn they respond with feelings of their own, though they each express them differently.
Playing lightly with the structure of the novel and comprised of flashbacks and flashforwards to the later lives of the eponymous protagonists in which they are young adults with careers and husbands of their own, Greta Gerwig's warm and heartfelt adaptation of Little Women is an ode to writing your own story.
Accompanying the film becoming available for streaming now on Into Film+, we have a film guide which explores the film's key topics and themes.
Other new titles on Into Film+
Jojo Rabbit
Jojo Rabbit is a tragi-comedy from the hugely popular New Zealand director Taika Waititi which sees the events of World War Two through the eyes of a naïve child. Johannes is a 10 year-old boy living in Nazi Germany towards the end of World War Two with his mother, Rosie. With friends and family lost to the war, Jojo has become a member of the Nazi youth and his closest confidante is his imaginary best friend: a fictionalised version of Adolf Hitler. However, after a surprising discovery, Jojo begins to question his Hitler Youth training and everything else he's been taught.
The film guide for Jojo Rabbit is most relevant for students aged 14-16, exploring subjects such as History and Citizenship with creative activities around the ethics of portraying war on screen.
Smallfoot
Smallfoot is a charming animated comedy that offers a fun twist on the Bigfoot legend, with positive messaging around celebrating difference, finding common ground and overcoming your fears, as well as discovering the world is rather more complex than you thought it was. Migo is a friendly yeti who has always been brought up to believe that "humans" are mythical creatures that only exist in the imagination. One day, however, he comes across what appears to be a real-life human in the wild, but when he tells the other people in the village, nobody believes him and he is banished! Determined to prove them wrong, Migo sets out on a quest to find the mysterious human and win back the trust of his local community.
The film guide for Smallfoot is most relevant for students aged 7-11, exploring subjects such as PSHE Education and Art & Design with a creative activity around writing about mythical creatures.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The first of two films relating to Holocaust Memorial Day which will be happening this year on 27 January.
John Boyne's acclaimed children's novel has been used worldwide to teach young readers about the complexities of war and this moving, educational and necessarily upsetting film adapts the story brilliantly. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas portrays the Holocaust through the eyes of two young boys - one the son of a Nazi, the other a Jewish child imprisoned in a concentration camp. Bruno is the eight-year-old son of a German commandant and is told that the barbed-wire enclosed camp next to his house is a farm, and its striped-uniform wearing prisoners merely workers. However, Bruno's eyes are gradually opened to the true horror of what's going on around him when he befriends a boy his own age from the other side of the fence.
The film guide for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is most relevant for students aged 11-14, exploring subjects such as History, Citizenship and English with a creative activity centered around discussing the overall meaning of the film.
The Book Thief
The second of new films streaming on Into Film+ in time for Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January is The Book Thief, a life-affirming film based on the best-selling young adults novel that shows war from a child's point of view. Liesel is a young girl whose passion for books helps her and the people she loves find a respite from the horrors of Nazi Germany. Originally illiterate when she was sent to live with foster parents in the late 1930s, spirited nine-year-old Liesel quickly learns to read thanks to the kindly couple's encouragement. Soon she's obsessed with the written word and the escapism it can provide; a situation that intensifies after her foster parents take in a Jewish refugee and Liesel starts sharing stories with the increasingly imperiled man.
The film guide for The Book Thief is most relevant for students aged 11-14, exploring subjects such as History, Citizenship and English with a creative activity centered around the importance of the arts even in times of great hardship.
Swallows and Amazons
This adaptation of the 1935 Arthur Ransome novel is full of daring and adventure, as four inquisitive children on holiday in the Lake District embark on the trip of a lifetime. Looking to get away from the tedium of their summer holiday, the siblings are given permission by their mother to camp on their own on a remote island in the middle of a vast lake. They're delighted, but when they get there they discover they may not be alone and the dangers of the adult world are not as far away as they had hoped. As the adventures continue, the children find themselves learning about survival, responsibility, and friendship. Beautifully shot, Swallows and Amazons is a charming, gentle film about the great outdoors and looking at the world from a child's point of view.
The film guide for Swallows and Amazons is most relevant for students aged 7-11, exploring subjects such as PSHE Education and English with a creative activity focused around adventure and logical thinking.
The Way He Looks
The first of four films which support LGBTQ+ History Month in February.
This romantic and tender story of young love from Brazil captures the awkwardness of adolescence with excruciating accuracy and culminates with a quietly defiant, inspirational ending. The Way He Looks introduces us to Leonardo, a blind high-school student who spends all of his time with his best friend Giovanna, searching for independence and wondering when he will experience his first kiss. Their close bond is threatened however with the arrival of Gabriel, a handsome new boy in school, shutting Giovanna out of the group as Gabriel and Leonardo develop a close friendship. As he is coming to terms with his developing sexuality, the filmmaker finds imaginative ways to convey Leonardo's romantic desire without the luxury of sight.
The film guide for The Way He Looks is most relevant for students aged 11-14, exploring subjects such as PSHE Education and Film Studies with an activity focused around creative writing and characters from the film.
Pariah
This trailblazing film is a much-needed story from the perspective of a Black lesbian girl which explores the importance of friendship and creative outlets in growing up and finding self-acceptance. Alike is a 17-year-old Black girl navigating her attraction to girls alongside school and home life. While out with her friend Laura, she embodies her butch lesbian identity but, back at home, she must hide this part of herself to fit in with her Christian mother's view of what a young girl should look and act like. While tension rises at home between her warring parents, Alike finds her first romantic crush in Bina, a young girl from her school who is unsure about her sexual identity. Pariah is a film that interrogates the importance of being free to express your self-identity any way you choose.
Tangerine
Fascinating from a technological standpoint and brilliant on a human level, Tangerine was shot exclusively on an iPhone and is an extraordinary piece of visual filmmaking with compassionate characters at its core. On Christmas Eve in Hollywood, Sin-Dee a transgender street worker is released from a short stint in prison. She meets up with confidante Alexandra, who accidentally lets slip that Sin-Dee's boyfriend and pimp, Chester, has been cheating on her. Enraged by this revelation, Sin-Dee trawls the city to track down Chester and his lover. Meanwhile, Razmik, an Armenian cab driver, works all day to earn enough money to visit the girls. However, with his mother-in-law suspicious and with Chester proving elusive, this hilarious, frantic farce threatens to turn ugly.
Next Goal Wins
A documentary that inspires and entertains in equal measure, Next Goal Wins is a true underdog story that will have any classroom absorbed and engaged. Following a 31- 0 drubbing at the hands of Australia in 2001, American Samoa were officially declared by FIFA to be the world's worst football team but refused to give in. We join the team that includes the emotionally scarred goalkeeper who conceded those 31 goals, and the world's first international transgender player, as they attempt to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with the help of maverick Dutch coach Thomas Rongen. Football fans will find much to enjoy, but what makes this film stand apart are its portraits of the wider, often impoverished American Samoan community, local pride, and a group of warm, charismatic (if not especially gifted) footballers, who embody the true spirit of sport.
The film guide for Next Goal Wins is most relevant for students aged 14-16, exploring subjects such as Physical Education, PSHE Education and Film Studies with a classroom activity focused around documentary filmmaking.
