Earlier this year the education charity Into Film worked with the Refugee Council to create a new resource to celebrate Refugee Week. With the refugee crisis dominating the news headlines this film-based resource is an excellent tool to help teachers and pupils explore the challenges faced by people seeking sanctuary in a foreign land, and celebrate and discuss the contribution refugees make to their adopted homes.
The resource contains a guide to five films that help bring the stories and struggles of refugees to life, with teachers’ notes, recommended discussion questions and activity ideas for before, during and after the screening, a worksheet about The UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and links to other relevant resources and organisations.
The resource is free for all schools to download and films within it – which, for secondary, include Casablanca, The Kite Runner, Monsieur Lazhar and The Terminal – are free to order for all schools with an Into Film Club. Other films linked to this subject in the Into Film catalogue include Leave to Remain, based on the true stories of a group of teenagers seeking asylum in the UK; In This World, a drama that depicts two Afghani cousins trying to get to England from a camp in Pakistan, tracing a route used by real life refugees; and Moving to Mars, a documentary about immigration that focuses on two Burmese families who relocate to Sheffield from a Thai refugee camp.
“For those of us fortunate enough to have grown up living in safety, it can be difficult to imagine what it’s like to be forced to flee your home but these films bring the stories and struggles of refugees to life in an extraordinarily compelling and vivid way. We hope that these films and materials remind everyone who watches them that compassion is a hallmark of a strong and open society.”
Rebecca Moore, Refugee Council
To find out about Into Film or set up a free Into FIlm Club: www.intofilm.org
Download the Into Film Refugee Week Resource at: http://www.filmclub.org/assets/pdf/Refugee-Week-resource-Into-Film-2015.pdf
