Film festival will help educate Hartlepool schoolchildren through movies

Pupils ready for action with the national Film Festival.

Vue Hartlepool and Cineworld Dalton Park are taking part in the festival, which is taking place throughout November with the backing of many celebrities, including Billingham actor Jamie Bell.

Hosted by film education charity Into Film, which is supported by Cinema First and the BFI through National Lottery funding, it engages with more than half of the UK’s schools.

It is free to all students, supporting education through a carefully-curated programme of films and events for schools with topical themes, resources, debates, special events and careers activity.

Jamie Bell, who is supporting the educational Film Festival.

Jamie Bell, who found fame in the Easington-based film Billy Elliot, said: “Film creates this sense of community.

“I always appreciated the use of it in school because I respond to things on screen. I respond to stories and performances told in that medium.”

Now in its sixth year, the project has been phenomenally successful.

It welcomed nearly 500,000 primary and secondary students and their teachers in 2017, of which almost 23,000 were from the North East.

This year, there will be over 60 events throughout the North East.

Vue Hartlepool will be showing Downsizing, The Darkest Minds, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Man Who Invented Christmas, The Post, Peter Rabbit, The Greatest Showman, Sherlock Gnomes, Captain Underpants and A Wrinkle in Time.

Cineworld Dalton Park will be showing Mary And The Witch’s Flower, Luis & The Aliens, Lady Bird, Ferdinand and The Darkest Minds.

All the events are curated to engage young minds in a broad range of topics, with many of the screenings supported by actors, directors and producers.

The Into Film Festival welcomed 487,000 young people from all backgrounds and corners of the UK last year.

It engaged youngsters in all aspects of film-making, from the popular annual review writing competition, to learning about careers in the film industry.

Industry experts lift the lid on a vast range of topics, including VFX, directing, screenwriting, foley artistry, sound design, prop making, costume design, audio describing, copywriting, film classification and acting.

Accessibility and inclusivity are key aims of the festival, with over half of the programme offered as audio-described, subtitled or autism-friendly.

For programme information, to book tickets and download resources, educators should visit www.intofilm.org/festival.