Expand students' horizons with documentary film, join KineDok School Film Clubs in the Czech Republic

Documentary films have the added value of raising questions, emotions and the need to think. KineDok School Film Clubs are designed to foster an inspiring environment, encourage students' creativity and can also help them choose their future studies or careers. Eight schools are currently involved in the project (Gymnázium T. G. Masaryka v Litvínově, Gymnázium Josefa Jungmanna v Litoměřicích, Gymnázium a střední odborná škola ekonomická Sedlčany, Gymnázium Teplice, The English College of Prague, Gymnázium Elišky Krásnohorské, Základní škola Antonína Čermáka and Střední odborné učiliště, Sedlčany).

We offer schools documentary films on current topics, with an accompanying programme. Currently we offer five workshops, the first one deals with environmental issues, students can watch a Romanian detective film about illegal logging WOOD and in the post-film discussions that have already taken place, students discussed this topic with Aleš Kilb from Lesy ČR, ecologist and feminist Justýna Mauelová and Václav Šťovíček from the Litvínovský ekologickéhý spolek Ekokul. The second workshop is on gender and identity and is accompanied by a Hungarian film Colors of Tobi about the search for one's own identity, understanding and mutual respect. The students are then discussing it with documentary filmmaker Kateř Tureček, destigmatisation specialist Marcela Macháčková and Lenka Králová from Trans*parent, who founded the Youtube channel V Tranzu. The third workshop deals with the topic of society and politics, in the film The Wire students can see the story of razor wire to prevent refugees from entering Slovenia, followed by a discussion, for example with Martin Rozumek, director of Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům. The fourth workshop on history and equality is accompanied by a film about the forgotten Roma partisans How I Became a Partisan and in the last workshop, students learn about audiovisual storytelling methods in documentary thanks to a series of four short documentary films students from FAMU.

In addition to workshops, we also offer special educational screenings, the first of which is the film Bellingcat - Truth in a post-truth world addressing the topic of fake news and disinformation, followed by a discussion with students, for example, by Jan Žabka, a journalist from the investigative-analytical project HlídacíPes.org. We also offer a film Picture a Scientist on the topic of women in science and scientific knowledge, which looks at the barriers to making technical fields accessible to all, and following the screening, students can discuss, for example, with the head of communication of the Artificial Intelligence Centre at the Czech Technical University, Karolina Poliakova. The film The Social Dilemma is a cross between a documentary and a drama and warns against social networks, and students will be joined by Hynek Trojánek from the watchdog organisation Iuridicum Remedium and the Digitální svobody project. Film Coded Bias about data and technology experts on the trail of code that enters all lives but harms only some of us, is accompanied by a discussion with, for example, data journalist Jan Cibulka.

If you are interested in a workshop or special educational screening at your school, please contact us at films@kinedok.net. These activities normally take place either in social sciences class or other humanities classes or outside of class, depending on you and the arrangement with the lecturer. You can contact us at any time during the school year.

If you are a student and would like to form a film club at your school and host screenings yourself, email us at the same email address and we will make a film of your choice available to you from our selection. Our catalogue this year can be found on the website kinedok.net.

Last year, we managed to organise 40 events for students, involving a total of 1,221 students. In addition to the screenings already mentioned, we also organised a special workshop on How to Write about Film, which ran online from September to November 2022 in six sessions and was attended by twelve students who could sign up for free regardless of experience. It was led by experienced film publicists Vojtěch Rynda (Týden, Instinkt and Reflex) and Barbora Nemčeková (Kinečko, Kapitál) and taught students how to use specific films and examples to break down how they are made, what techniques they use and to what effect.

As for last year's workshops, the packed line-up of workshops on current topics included the film On Your Marks! about the Sokol mass performance and a subsequent debate with Tereza Konývková Frýbertová, who explores the performativity of the Sokol movement, or Easy Lessons about Kafia, who fled to Hungary from Somalia two years ago before her arranged marriage, followed by a debate on migration with people from Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům.

"I used to sneer at the documents, but now I understand their purpose," said one student. From their reactions, they learned how documentaries are actually made and that it is very important to look at one topic from several different angles. In the feedback, students also mentioned many times that it is important to respect others and not judge them, which was helped by the debates where they could discuss with their classmates and try to get their perspective.

"I learned to think better about the documents. The workshop definitely motivated me to continue participating in the cultural field," mentioned a student of the Gymnázium Teplice. Some students were so interested in the project that they decided to organize documentary screenings at their school themselves. At the Gymnázium T. G. Masaryka v Litvínově, students Klára and Jakub organised screenings of the films we provided.