The National Film Centre of Latvia in collaboration with the National Centre for Education have developed an illuminating new project entitled “Kino Skolās”, which aims to promote accessibility and knowledge of Latvian films through a comprehensive academic learning process. “Kino Skolās” provides teachers with suggested teaching methods, a textbook (112 pages), as well as the opportunity to access Latvian films through an online platform at www.filmas.lv
Both education professionals and film critics have worked together to produce material that consists of compiled lesson plans, worksheets that teachers can use during class time, as well as more in-depth descriptions of the films or film excerpts that are recommended to be used in the teaching process.
Lesson plans are designed for grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12.
The films and lesson plans are intended to be utilized across a wide variety of disciplines, such as social science, Latvian history, Latvian and world history, politics and law, cultural studies, visual art. The goal is to help teachers choose a Latvian film, or a specific scene, that can help illustrate and shed light on a certain academic topic. The sample lesson plans are only of recommendations.
The films that can be utilized throughout the learning process can be found online at www.filmas.lv. Through the same website one can download the lesson plans (PDF format). The sample lesson plans can also be found in the printed publication “Kino Skolās”.
This projects offers a selection of 21 different films produced in Latvia (“Romeo and Juliet”, “Klucis. Deconstruction of an Artist”, “Springtime In Crow Street”, “Little Bird’s Diary” etc.). The selection ranges from animation to documentary to fiction, all of which have been produced over the last few years. Also included are two classics of the Latvian cultural canon- the classic documentary “Ten Minutes Older” and “The White Bell”.
The program was developed as a collaboration between education professionals, who prepared the lesson plans and work sheets, and film critics, who contributed reviews of each film, describing both its aesthetic value and placing it in its cultural-historical context. These different approaches- pedagogical and cultural-historical- broaden the material’s functions and applications. We hope that this material inspires teachers and students alike and that it will deepen their understanding of Latvian films and filmmakers. We even hope that film and specifically Latvian film studies will soon evolve into its own discipline and become an integral part of the established curriculum.
In order for young people to be able to orient themselves in the audiovisual world and allow their creativity to flourish, it is first necessary for them to develop and deepen their knowledge of the language of cinema. One can already find an emphasis on cinema studies in the curriculums of many Nordic countries, especially Denmark and Lithuania. For Latvia, this road still lies ahead. The materials and methodology of “Kino Skolās” will allow teachers to promote the integration of Latvian cinema and Latvian produced films into the general learning process.
Information
Kristīne Matīsa
kristine.matisa@nfc.gov.lv
Dita Rietuma
Head of the Project
dita.rietuma@nfc.gov.lv