“Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out”

A plethora of exciting activities related to the Film Appreciation Club were carried out through the year to bring out the film buff in each child and assist her/ his in exploring her/ his film making sensibilities.

It has been our endeavour to help students imbibe a love for cinema, especially meaningful cinema and comprehend various aspects of film-making so as to appreciate the multi- faceted art of making movies. To this end, children have been encouraged to watch movies related to the topics taught in class. For example, in English, lessons on great personalities like Nelson Mandela, APJ Kalam and Anne Frank, to name a few, have many inspirational movies made on their lives. The students of the Movie Appreciation Club have been asked to be discerning viewers and observe the craft of filmmaking minutely so that the task of critiquing a movie could be done effectively.

In the Hindi class too, great emphasis has been laid on watching movies based on the lives of legendary writers in the Hindi language like Munshi Premchand, Harivansh Rai Bachchan etc. ‘Kar Chale Hum Fida’, a song from the movie Hakikat, is a poem taught in class 10, written by the great poet Kaifi Azmi. Similarly, the chapter, “Teesri Kasam Ke Shilpkar -Shailendra” in grade 10 is based on the movie, ‘Teesri Kasam’ and the children were encouraged to watch the original.

Our budding film ‘critics’ had a lot to learn and engage in as the nuances of filmmaking, right from photography, cinematography to characterisation, theme and plot were thrashed out during our online sessions; children gained from each other’s experience and it was teamwork at its best when tasks related to different aspects of film critiquing were delegated in groups. Steps for writing a Film Critique starting from the movie title and the main idea of the movie to symbolism and cinematic devices formed part of the club activities. General guidelines on how to critique a movie based on premise, characterisation, plot and structure, dialogue, originality, scenes, visual presentation etc. were discussed at length in the club meetings to prepare future movie makers

Our efforts bore fruit last year when a team of three students comprising Riya, Nysa and Diya earned accolades for the school by securing the first position in the film critiquing competition, “Silver Fiesta”, organised by G D Goenka World School, Sohna Road. The competition, which had participants from all Goenkan schools across India, gave the students an opportunity to better understand and appreciate the perspective of filmmakers and film critics and develop a sense of direction towards the art of moviemaking. It also gave the students a platform to look at movies from his/her own perspective.

Needless to say, the Movie Appreciation Club is the first stepping stone for movie enthusiasts who want to venture into the world of moviemaking where through baby steps they are integrated into the craft of moviemaking.

“Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the movie is about” - Steven Speilberg