Magic of the Frame Pilots NL
In both pilots in the Netherlands we choose to work with the movie “The Circle”
This documentary by choreographer and filmmaker Lanre Malaolu, is about growing up as a black boy in one of the social housing projects in Hackney, East London.
The short film portrays two young neighbors, the seventeen-year-old twins David and Sanchez Smith. They talk about their relationship, their family, the problems they face, their mental health, their dreams and other sensitive topics.
“Magic of the Frame” at the Hugo de Groot College in Rotterdam
These topics were discussed in the first of the series of 12 lessons that are currently organized at the Hugo the Groot College in Rotterdam. At this school we work with an international class with students from Russia, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries. All the world’s problems are present in a classroom of about 50 square meters. The group is motivated and but at times difficult to work with, but not because of their attitude. The main problem is the language, some of them have only been in the Netherlands for a couple of months, so parts of the lessons are in English. In the first lessons many theater exercises were used to address the subjects of the documentary. In May and June, the students will interview people who work for NGO’s, local politicians and activists on camera about the topics of the movie. The teachers Nadira and Cyrille have approached several organisations to arrange this.
“Magic of the Frame” at the HAVO voor theater en dans in Rotterdam
During a special study week, the students of the “HAVO voor theater en dans” in Rotterdam worked with the documentary the Circle. During one week, in groups of three, they tried to find subjects related to the movie in the neighborhood of their school and made short documentaries themselves. Because of the limited time it was a bit of a pressure cooker but the project was well received by the students and the school and will be repeated next year.
A documentary made by three girls about unsafety on the streets will possibly be broadcasted on TV Rijnmond the regional TV channel for Rotterdam and surroundings. One of the girls involved had a bad experience herself.
Link to video Theater Havo:
“Magic of the Frame – Teach with documentary film!” is a project financed by the Erasmus+ Programme under contract N: 2021-1-HU01-KA220-SCH-000029686.
