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Why Short Films
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Authenticity: film is one of the closest mediums to a real life.
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Brevity and manageability: a short film can be screened in its entirety easily within one lesson.
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Accessibility: film is an inclusive medium, accessible to students of diverse learning styles, experiences and needs.
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Unique qualities: Short films, like short stories, are not governed by the same conventions as their longer counterparts and can provoke stronger responses.
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Stimulating: films can generate a range of talking, conversational and dramatic activity, stimulating an active engagement with language.
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Cultural immersion: Film offers a holistic picture of a language culture, rather than just the abstracted spoken or written words alone.
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Authentic language use: Films can help children listen for gist and detail, and show them gesture and facial expressions that support speech.
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Writing in a target language can be supported by creative and interactive approaches to film.
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Relevance: films encourage learners to engage with challenging issues and contexts in ways that develop passion, commitment and enthusiasm for language learning.
BFI has produced a number of compilations of short films to support language and literacy learning:
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Cineminis; Short French Films for Language Learning and Literacy (that this DVD includes many films with resources on this site).
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Story Shorts 2 - Short films for the Primary classroom. Age 7+
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Real Shorts - Short documentary & non-fiction films for Year 7+
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Moving Shorts - Short films for English and Media Studies
Follow the links above for more information on the compilations, and to get copies.
![Muriel Huet teaching a lesson based on Quais de Seine.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1fdbf3_19d34fd265134e8287a151b0d26188cb.jpg/v1/fill/w_348,h_188,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1fdbf3_19d34fd265134e8287a151b0d26188cb.jpg)
BFI has been promoting the value of short films for supporting literacy and language learning for many years. Teachers and learners have found a range of reasons why short films contribute to powerful learning experiences: