Secondary school events

Dynasties, daggers and duty: a Chinese cinema Study Day for KS3 Mandarin (2)

Fri 10 Jun 2016 10:30 – 15:30
NFT 1, BFI Southbank

This event is intended for teachers and students only.

Mandarin is still in its infancy in curriculum terms and you may be wishing to try out different approaches in your teaching to help your students enjoy its challenges, through engaging with exciting visual material. This study day will use clips from a variety of feature films as a stimulus to students’ learning about the culture and history of China while extending their vocabulary.

The morning session will screen a range of film clips from modern depictions of traditional Chinese tales such as The Curse of the Golden Flower and The House of Flying Daggers through more contemporary themes like The Story of Qiu Ju and The Road Home. The themes of dichotomy which Chinese directors are exploring such as: rural versus urban, tradition versus modern, and past versus present will be explored through these films, plus the representation of young people through their responsibilities and plights.

There will be interactive activities for students to engage with and opportunities for extending vocabulary linked to the films. Students will be encouraged to interact in Mandarin where possible. In the afternoon there will be an introduced screening of a suitable feature film; the most recent being the award-winning, Not One Less, 1999(dir. Yimou Zhang, 1999).

Students should be in their first to second year of studying Mandarin in order to get the most benefit from this event.

Led by James Trapp, China Education Manager, British Museum and Primary Network Co-ordinator, Confucius Institute

Year 8-9 Mandarin and Gifted & Talented

£8 per student; £1 per adult accompanying every 5 students; for any additional adult the student rate applies. £40 for teachers attending without students.

Please note that schools should provide their own packed lunches.

How to Book

First phone to check availability. Call 020 7815 1329 Monday-Wednesday or 020 7849 4451 Thursday-Friday. Then either book by phone using credit/debit cards only OR book by post by downloading the booking form and sending it with a cheque made payable to ‘British Film Institute’ or card details to: School Bookings, BFI Education, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London, SE1 8XT.

Booking form

Please refer to our frequently asked questions before contacting our Education team, as these may help answer your queries.