Having been founded in 1956, the London Film School is one of the world's oldest film schools dedicated to the education of filmmakers from the UK and around the world. The school's mission is simple: deliver a unique model of graduate level training to produce top-level filmmakers and skilled industry professionals. But the offerings aren't just limited to those studying at a senior level – young students are also introduced to the world of cinema through our vital outreach programmes. These aim to nurture talent, broaden horizons and inspire young people to have a lifelong engagement with film.
Our latest collaboration is with the National Saturday Club programme, which has seen the start of our free, 18-week Film & Media Saturday Club at the London Film School itself. 21 young people aged between 13 and 16 from around London have come together on a weekly basis to learn about film, create their own filmed exercises and discuss their work in class with filmmaking students and alumni of the London Film School. In a fun, relaxed environment, students are able to learn about different filmmaking techniques to enhance their visual storytelling skills and make films that speak to an audience. Our final film will be screened at the BFI's National Film Theatre in front of an audience of other children and schools from across the UK.
A safe space to create
It is important to us that our courses take place in a non-competitive and non-outcome-based environment. This means that the young people who come through our doors should feel inspired and encouraged to see the world through a different lens and express their own creativity through film without fear of being judged.
In our experience, both the online and in-person film clubs enhance students’ ‘soft skills’, such as communication, collaboration, resilience, independence and social interaction. These are skills that are invaluable throughout our lives but are particularly important to nurture now in the wake of the pandemic as young people have endured a two-year hiatus of engaging with new experiences.
Supporting a burgeoning industry
Our work as an early-stage engine for talent and skills development could not be better timed for those young creatives who are starting to think about their careers. The UK film industry is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, and with 20 new studio sites in the pipeline, the UK's studio space is expected to outnumber Los Angeles by 2025. One recent analysis suggested the industry will be lacking an astonishing 40,000 workers to crew productions by this time. We must meet this demand and help provide a funnel of talent to the industry.
Practice-based learning is at the centre of everything the London Film School does, especially its outreach programmes. Young students are introduced to the world of cinema in both online and in-person workshops where they can learn through making, discover film language, visual storytelling techniques and develop skills for life.
Digital discourse
The Film & Media Saturday Club is the latest in a line of many other related projects, some of which were trialled during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our online offering was developed during the first lockdown and proved to be very successful. We were part way through delivering a project with a primary school when lockdown started, so we quickly pivoted to online learning. This offered the children the chance to continue their club, make films at home and discuss their work with their classmates in weekly Zoom meetings. One of the films that we made during that time reflected the shared experience of this slower pace of life and being confined to home, something that clearly struck a chord with audiences around the world. The film was quickly selected to be screened at many children's film festivals in countries like the US, India, Ireland, Russia and Ukraine.
Global goals
Our projects not only reach young people in London, but we also run clubs for schools in rural locations and even abroad. This year we have worked with children and teenagers in Ukraine and have been so impressed by their resilience and enthusiasm to document their daily lives despite being in such precarious situations. You can see snapshots of these online workshops at vimeo.com/lfsorguk
It's been a privilege to take this journey of discovery with children and young people and we all hope our work will not only inspire a future generation of filmmakers but also create an informed cinema audience in the years to come.
Find out more about the London Film School's Film & Media Saturday Club, which runs from October 2022 to March 2023, at lfs.org.uk/outreach/saturday-club.