Pratiquez votre français... avec le cinéma français!

Isabelle Servant (ex University of Standford, USA) has created a wealth of teaching activities which support the learning of French with French films. Her amazing resources (aimed at Intermediate and Advanced levels students) are

Her website is made of 5 parts:

• History of the French Cinema (Reading and Comprehension Activities)
• 13 Films studies (Introduction, Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises, Presentations, Useful Links)
• Cultural Themes: Reading and Discussion topics
• Quiz
• Dialogues (Fill in the Gaps)

Thank you for sharing Isabelle!

Essential Vocabulary for Film Studies

Henriette Tuzzolino (Tikipunga High School) has put together the very useful vocabulary activities below, which should help students understand and express opinions on the films they view in class. The vocab list offers the French and the English.  The Flashcards, Wordfind and Crossword reuse the vocab from the initial list, which makes for variety in repetition and contribute to facilitate the acquisition of those key words. 

La Vie en Rose (La Môme)

d'Olivier Dahan (2007), avec Marion Cotillard.

Henriette Tuzzolino (Tikipunga High School) has shared activities she has created to study La Vie en Rose with her combined 12/13 class.  Henriette offers a summary and a list of short film critiques, that you can use upon viewing the film.  "Scènes du Film" offers reading and comprehension activities based on short concise chronological summaries of several scenes from the film.  Henriette has included a short bio of Edith Piaf as well as the lyrics to three of Piaf's famous songs: La Foule, La Vie en Rose & Je ne Regrette Rien.  Henriette recommends to look up the corresponding video clips on YouTube.

Talking about Films and Cinema : List of Useful Questions and Prompts

Fond De Teint -Short Film Study

Estelle Seaman (Rangitoto College) has created a film study activity for Level 8 students based on a DVD of short films the French Embassy gave out at Conference last year. Estelle has put together a document with notes and activities relating to the film "Fond de Teint" which she is using as a bridge between my unit on immigration/discrimination and our film study of "Au revoir, les enfants"! She hopes someone may find this useful! - the film is only 6 minutes long which allows discussion about all the elements of a film without taking 3 periods to watch it!

Entre les Murs (The Class)

by Laurent Cantet (2008), based on the story by François Bégaudeau (a teacher who also is the teacher in the film!)

 This film,  winner of the Palme d'Or 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival, is now available in New Zealand in selected DVD shops. 

This film opens the door on the daily life of a French class in a suburban College near Paris, over the course of a year.  The director uses improvisation by non actors to capture true classroon dynamics and interesting contrasts created by the multiple ethnicities and identities represented. The film takes place directly in the classroom, with real students and a real teacher, and it deals with instruction and learning in that environment.  The teacher's pedagoic method is to stand his ground in the frequent verbal battles that happen in his class.  No one is right or wrong and despite constant challenges, dialogue happens. It is "a very up to date blend of a documentary and narrative, which is at the cutting edge today".  (Adapted from IMBd)

►Visit entre les murs official website for a synopsis, videos and opinions.

►Visit TV5 to view film extracts, read interviews and about the filming with teenagers, their language etc. 

Etre et Avoir

de Nicolas Philibert (2003). 

The story of students in a remote French school told by their teacher.  There are many teaching related material on the internet on this unforgetttable film.

Etre et Avoir : Multimedia resource elaborated by the German Professor M Overmann.

http://www.ph-ludwigsburg.de/html/2b-frnz-s-01/overmann/baf4/etreetavoir/4o.htm

Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles

de Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004) avec Audrey Tautou.

All the activities below, written by Verna Morris (Dunstan High School) are to be completed upon viewing the film.  Amongst other exercises, they are seven station tasks, requiring preparation before use with your students.  All skills for Levels 7 and 8.

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain

de Jean Pierre Jeunet (2001) avec Audrey Tautou 

Sandrine Douarin (St Peter's College) has forwarded these great activities to facilitate the study of the film with your class.  Sandrine downloaded them from the TV5 website.  Read trough the first document listed below to discover a range of comprehension activities and spend a little while assembling the game board and cards to make a successful re-usable resource.

Les Choristes

de Christophe Barratier, 2004, avec Gérard Jugnot.

Verna Morris (Dunstan College) put together these station tasks to study the film.  The tasks require some preparation by the teacher and offer students the opportunity to work on a wide range of skills to understand and benefit from this classic film.

Philippa Kruger (Otago High School for Girls) devised the following resources to study Les Choristes.