Pupils from Knutsford area take part in world’s biggest free film festival for schoolchildren (From Knutsford Guardian)

Pupils from Knutsford area take part in world’s biggest free film festival for schoolchildren

4:50pm Saturday 24th October 2009

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MORE than 500 pupils from the Knutsford area have taken part in the world’s biggest free film festival for schoolchildren.

St Vincent’s, Yorston Lodge, St John’s Wood and High Legh were among the schools that sent youngsters to the town’s cinema to learn about international issues.

The chosen films – Oliver Twist, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Tale of Despereaux – were expected to teach them about creativity and diversity.

Nick Walker, director of the scheme, said those movies would introduce pupils to new worlds that they did not know about.

“The films on offer represent the potential of cinema to challenge, to cross boundaries and to engage with audiences of all ages,” he said.

On Monday, pupils from St Vincent’s went to see Oliver Twist, at the cinema in Toft Road.

This film is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ tale of an orphan who experiences a life of poverty, crime and later wealth in 19th century London.

On Wednesday children from St John’s Wood watched The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

That movie in an adaptation of a 2006 novel about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust during the Second World War.

It is told from the point of view of an eight-year-old boy whose father is a commandant at a concentration camp.

The youngster befriends a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence, which leads to unexpected consequences.

Mr Walker said watching such films would make children want to see more movies about other countries.

He also believes it encourages youngsters to watch subtitled films.

“As new platforms for production, distribution and exhibition come into play, there are more titles from many countries previously not known to the UK cinema-going public to enjoy,” he said.

On Friday, pupils from St Vincent’s Yorston Lodge and High Legh watched the Tale of Despereaux.

The film is another book adaptation, this time from a children’s fantasy novel by American writer Kate DiCamillo.

It tells of three unlikely heroes – a misfit mouse who enjoys reading, an unhappy rat who wants to leave his dungeon and a bumbling servant girl.

National Schools Film Week is now in its 14th year.

More than 410,000 pupils will attend the free screenings in more than 500 cinemas.

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