In July 2011, the European Commission published an invitation to tender for a European-scale Experts’ Study on film literacy in Europe, covering all EU and EEA nations, and asking for evidence-based recommendations to inform policy making in the forthcoming Creative Europe framework. The tender was won by a consortium of UK and wider European partners, led by the British Film Institute. This report forms the Executive Summary of a fuller report, to be published in early 2013.
The Terms of Reference for the survey included a definition of film literacy, later amended, as follows:
‘The level of understanding of a film, the ability to be conscious and curious in the choice of films; the competence to critically watch a film and to analyse its content, cinematography and technical aspects; and the ability to manipulate its language and technical resources in creative moving image production’
The Tender specified coverage of the formal, informal, and audio-visual sectors in film education (but not including Higher Education).
Our keynote throughout this research has been a belief that core to film education is an adaptability – across genres, national cinemas, industrial contexts; across platforms; across school subjects and disciplines; and across education settings – in the classroom, after school, and outside school. We intend to make this adaptability – its translatability – into its key strength, and into a funding principle.
The full report can be downloaded here.
The executive summary is here.
For further information about the Film Literacy Advisory Group, please contact Mark Reid, Head of Education at the BFI mark.reid@bfi.org.uk
