Calendar Dates in Focus: April to May 2023

Each half term, our Calendar Dates in Focus series rounds up various important calendar dates in the academic calendar that you can create a film-centred lesson plan around way ahead of time.

Our latest edition covers a number of important ones in April and May, from Earth Day to Mental Health Awareness Week. The information and links below are an easy, at-a-glance way of knowing what's coming up, but we'll be exploring many in more detail nearer the time.

April

• Stress Awareness Month - Our 'Mindfulness Through Film' online training and resource are great ways of discovering how film and filmmaking can be used to manage stress and encourage mental wellbeing in young people.

• Stephen Lawrence Day (22 April) - 2023 marks thirty years since Stephen Lawrence was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack in London. Our just-published article presents two films around this crucial part of our collective history that are available for free* on Into Film+ - Stephen: The Murder that Changed a Nation and Stabbed: Britain's Knife Crime Crisis - as well as both our own resources and ones from the Stephen Lawrence Foundation.

• Earth Day (22 April) - Last year's Our Earth Into Film+ programme of films, resources and exclusive collaborations with the likes of Eco Schools and Oxfam brought the topics of environmentalism, sustainability, climate change and the wellbeing of the planet into the classroom. The extensive collection has a number of newly added titles including Luca, Free Solo and Living Proof: Man the Destroyer/ The Living Land.

• Shakespeare's Birthday (23 April) - A number of film adaptations of Shakespeare's most acclaimed plays are available on Into Film+ such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth.

May

• Local and Community History Month - As cinemas re-opened their doors two years ago after covid restrictions eased, we published two articles exploring the history of local cinemas, including one from young people and one from regional cinema owners. Why not run a similar activity exploring the history of your local cinema?

• National Share a Story Month - We're passionate about creating opportunities for young people to share their story through film, including our Film of the Month competition, which accepts entries at all times of the year. We explored how young people can create a unique story for their short film.

• Deaf Awareness Week (1 - 7 May) - Our D/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Film List provides a range of titles for both primary and secondary students. We will also be releasing an interview with the brilliant Deaf Talent Collective; a consultancy service that organises deaf actors, BSL interpreters, BSL and deaf consultants, script consultants and bespoke deaf awareness training for productions or events.

• Coronation of Charles III and Camilla (6 May) - Our article celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee last year featured a fascinating archival clip of her coronation seventy years before.

• Mental Health Awareness Week (15 - 21 May) - This year's theme is 'Anxiety'. A great deal of our programme relates to this theme including the Into Film Award winning short Driven to Despair, Nadiya: Anxiety and Me on Into Film+ and the Moving Minds 2: Building Resilience resource.

• Endangered Species Day (21 May) - The 'Our Earth' programme on Into Film+ is once again your best starting place here and some particularly relevant titles include the newly added feature documentary, Escape from Extinction as well as the shorts Hybrids, The Beauty, The Wonderful Story of Ali, Aisha & The Multicolored Dhow Boat, and Migrants.

Many young people across the UK are currently in the midst of revision season, so we collected together our numerous films, film guides and resources that link to GCSE and A-level specifications (in addition to Standards and Highers for Scotland) across a variety of subjects, from History to Computer Science & ICT.

*Screenings for an entertainment or extra-curricular purpose require a PVS (Public Video Screening) Licence from Filmbankmedia. State-funded schools in England are covered by the PVS Licence.

Into Film and the Into Film+ streaming service is supported by the UK film industry through Cinema First and the BFI through National Lottery Funding, thanks to National Lottery players. Since the very first National Lottery draw in 1994, public support - raised directly through National Lottery ticket sales - has funded more than 670,000 projects, raising more than £46 billion for good causes.