Films by season & age - Campaigning (Ages 15-18)

Seasons are a great way to explore different ideas through watching a group of films. Why not try watching all the films in a season and make some time for discussion. Topics and discussion points are included.

Compiled with the help of The Sheila McKechnie Foundation. For more information see www.sheilamckechnie.org.uk

Sometimes we simply want a movie to take us somewhere amazing and fantastical - to use that movie as an escape. But a film can be just as powerful when it's grounded in the real world - and particularly when it shows us what ordinary men and women can achieve when they believe in something with a passion.

The films featured in this FILM CLUB season all involve just that passion, as expressed through campaigning. Confronted with injustice, the characters at the hearts of these movies give up their time and sometimes even their lives in order to fight for what they think is right - and to change what they feel is wrong.

Suggested pair:

Why not compare the inspirational story of Gandhi - in which the Indian spiritual leader has hundreds of thousands of followers - with Erin Brockovich, where the heroine at the centre of the story has to carry out a much lonelier campaign?

In both The Constant Gardener and The Insider, the character behind the campaign is a mild-mannered and unlikely hero - but of course appearances can be deceptive!

Talking points:

Did you feel while watching the non-violent campaigning of Gandhi that such an approach would be effective today?

When you were watching this film/these films, did you ever doubt that the cause the hero/heroine was campaigning for was right? Was their personality alone enough to carry you along, or did the film also persuade you in other ways?

What kind of problems would a character like Gandhi (or any of those featured in the films here) likely to be campaigning about today?

GUIDANCE:

Some of the films in this season (notably In The Name of the Father and the Killing Fields) feature scenes of violence, although all are handled responsibly and sensitively by the film-makers.