The Verdi will host the School Week to bring cinema closer to the youngest

The BCN Film Fest organizes, as every year, School Week. Between March 27 and 31, the Verdi Cinemas will open their doors to educational centers with reduced-price tickets and an educational guide. The objective of this initiative is to foster a love for cinema at an early age. The event will be held for the seventh time as part of the BCN Film Fest, but outside its official dates, which this year will be from April 20 to 28.

School Week seeks to promote passion and taste for cinema from educational centers. The programming manager of Verdi Cinemas, David García, defines it as: "instilling cinephilia from the youngest age." The organization wants this event to be an incentive for young people to enjoy cinema and to value watching a film in a screening room: that the very act of going to the cinema becomes their ritual.

During the week of March 27, students and teachers will be able to enjoy eight educational titles chosen by the BCN Film Fest Committee. The selection is oriented to all tastes and ages: from the winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival, Alcarràs, to animated films such as Oink Oink and Hopper, the Polloliebre. Students will also be able to enjoy award-winning films such as The Conference, by Matti Geschonneck, winner of Best Film at the previous edition of the BCN Film Fest. In addition, the cinemas will offer four other proposals with different teachings.

To accompany this experience and make the most of its educational potential, attendees will receive a didactic sheet included with the ticket. This support material, developed in collaboration with Film Club, aims to delve into the moral questions proposed by the film. The document will be offered to teachers to work on the educational aspect and reflect on the values reflected in the screenings.

An inclusive festival

The Film Fest School Week is characterized by an inclusive program for all ages and students. In this edition, films will be premiered in Spanish Sign Language (LSE). The chosen film, Hopper, the Polloliebre, by Ben Stassen and Benjamin Mousquet, will be screened with a sign language interpreter. The producer of this work, A Contracorriente, is one of the few companies that produce animated films in LSE.

The project for a more inclusive festival was born from requests in previous years from centers with deaf students to hold cinema sessions. These screenings will be free for schools with hearing-impaired students. David García defends that it is "an initiative that has come to stay." The BCN Film Fest School Week is moving towards becoming a festival accessible to all educational centers.