Masoud Yazdani | Director,
Intellect Publishing
In 1999,
the British Film Institute published an influential report entitled 'Making
Movies Matter', calling for "a new attitude towards the moving image
amongst education policy-makers." The BFI are no doubt pioneers in their
attitude toward film education. From a range of schemes and talks to papers and
reports, it seems they work tirelessly in support of the integration of
learning about (and through) film into the British school curriculum, as
well as attempting to address perspectives of film in older generations. In
their most recent education report, 'Impact, Relevance and Excellence', the organisation say they aim to equip
everyone with "the practical skills to appreciate, interpret and apply the
language of film... just as we expect...so much through the printed text."
In the
years between the BFI's 1999 report, and their current 2014 review of film
education, however, I have graduated from primary, secondary and sixth form
education, and am now in my final year at The University of York, studying for
a BSc in Film and Television production - and I see a problem. Studying film at
a Russell Group university means that I am painfully aware that the measures
set out by the BFI for the integration of film as a fundamental part of
literacy, culture and society have not been quite as penetrative as they may
have hoped; and unfortunately they have not yet managed to change the attitudes
of the masses.
Often
when revealing my degree at a party or bar, I receive a mixed bag of
responses, but, unfortunately, 90% are negative. Most claim it must be an easy
degree ("so do you just watch films all day?"), while others deign to
admit it's 'kinda cool', but follow straight up with "but I actually want
a job at the end of my degree." Clearly my value of film isn't widely share
by the pool of predominantly middle class students who populate the campus. In
reality, a massive proportion of people I interact with think film just isn't worthy
of formal study. It's a hobby, a pastime, an entertainer - and if you study it,
you're probably just not cut out to be doing what they consider to be a 'real'
subject.
But where does this mentality stem from? Sir Ken Robinson, renowned speaker on education, creativity and innovation has a theory.
But where does this mentality stem from? Sir Ken Robinson, renowned speaker on education, creativity and innovation has a theory.
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(From the full talk: "How schools kill creativity" (2006), available at TED.com)
The inaccessibility of film-making in the past, coupled with an impenetrable industry may have
left many in the dark about this relatively new medium, but while neither
film nor television might not be as old an art form as literature, there is no
doubt it plays an integral part in most of our lives. Increasing media literacy
now, in the era of the iPhone and Youtube, is more viable and important than ever before, and this, along with creating respect for the medium from the beginning of education is fundamental to the future of the UK film industry.
If the younger generation do not see it as a viable or respectable industry to enter, or are (as is currently happening) widely discouraged from pursuing their interest in it, it faces a bleak future. In the most recent report by Oxford Economics in 2011, it was estimated that the UK film industry contributes over £4.6 billion to UK GDP, and supports over 117,000 jobs - an industry, no doubt, that both the government and the wider public have vested interest in keeping afloat. So to keep from losing potential future talent and important cultural content, it is vital that film and television are understood, respected and (eventually) held in just as high a cultural esteem as any other art form in our educational establishments
If the younger generation do not see it as a viable or respectable industry to enter, or are (as is currently happening) widely discouraged from pursuing their interest in it, it faces a bleak future. In the most recent report by Oxford Economics in 2011, it was estimated that the UK film industry contributes over £4.6 billion to UK GDP, and supports over 117,000 jobs - an industry, no doubt, that both the government and the wider public have vested interest in keeping afloat. So to keep from losing potential future talent and important cultural content, it is vital that film and television are understood, respected and (eventually) held in just as high a cultural esteem as any other art form in our educational establishments
I think it's time for a new view of film education, and the purpose of this blog is to understand, research and explore approaches being taken by the industry to increase the value of film and television in culture and society - and what that means for everyone else.
Footnotes
1. "Making movies matter", published by the BFI is available to read in full at: http://sic.conaculta.gob.mx/centrodoc_documentos/21.pdf
2. 'Impact, Relevance and Excellence,' available at http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-film-education-strategy-impact-relevance-and-excellence-2014-03.pdf
3. Oxford Economics study on the impact of the film industry on our economy. Available at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-economic-impact-of-the-uk-film-industry-2012-09-17.pdf
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