John Johnson attended the screening of the Shakespeare Schools International Film Festival and found that it was evident that the students had learnt a huge amount from this practical, hands-on project
The Shakespeare Schools International Film Festival is a cultural education project that supports schools to produce abridged Shakespeare films for a digital showcase. The festival is run by the same team who host the annual Shakespeare Schools Festival, which involves more than 300,000 young people. For its film festival, participating schools are supported to produce films with a series of teacher training workshops and resources from professional film and drama facilitators. Shakespeare scripts have been abridged by acclaimed writers including Tom Stoppard and Jamila Gavin, and the team at the Shakespeare Schools Festival are on hand to support teachers through each step of the process. Films are then submitted and featured in a ‘premiere week’ and ‘Best of the Fest’ viewing, which this year took place at the Coram Centre (the festival is run by The Coram Shakespeare School's Foundation). The evening was entitled ‘Reimagining Shakespeare on Screen: Highlights from Shakespeare Schools International Film Festival’ and included films from participating schools from across the world.
The evening began with a ‘pupil panel’ of young actors and film makers, in which we were able to hear first-hand about their involvement in the projects. They spoke enthusiastically about the skills they had learned, which ranged from technical skills such as placement to script editing. They also noted that they had built confidence and developed concentration throughout the process. It was evident that the students had learnt a huge amount from this practical, hands-on project, and there was a real sense of their having formed a strong bond whilst working on the films.
This is a truly international festival with schools from the UK, China, Belgium, Hungary, Norway, Spain and Abu Dhabi involved in the ‘Best of the Fest’ screening. It's an accessible and inclusive festival with a range of schools involved, from prep and independent to primaries, state and community special schools. The short films themselves range in style, from a futuristic Star Trek-like Julius Caeser to a new version of The Tempest, shot on location through the streets of Budapest. The quality of the output is varied but, really, this is irrelevant: it is a showcase of the creative ways young people can reimagine these classic texts. To sign up for the 2025 competition, visit shakespeareschools.org/festival/shakespeare_film_festival.