Films by season & age - Sport (Ages 12-15)

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.

Combining the raw excitement of sport with the talents of some fantastic film-makers, the movies presented in this Film Club season will both thrill and involve.

Many of the action sequences here will dazzle even those who have never previously enjoyed watching sport - few people could stay entirely unmoved by the majestic surfing scenes of Riding Giants, or the frantic to-and-fro of Japan's Ping Pong!

But aside from the spectacular, all the films on offer here also boast great stories - and ones in which kids are as often the heroes and heroines themselves as they are mere spectators. Equally, within the season are films aimed at girls every bit as much as boys - while boys may respond more favourably to the likes of Coach Carter or Shaolin Soccer, girls will relish Bend It Like Beckham and The Bad News Bears.

Woven into the fabric of the stories here are themes of teamwork and the rewards of hard work - but with movies this enthralling, the audience might be having too much fun to notice them!

Talking points:

  • Do you prefer the films that focus on individuals, or teams?
  • How important is Morris Buttermaker in The Bad News Bears or Ken Carter in Coach Carter? How would their teams have done without them?
  • Do you prefer more realistic sports scenes, or more fantastical ones such as those in Shaolin Soccer?

Guidance:

As a martial arts-influenced movie, Shaolin Soccer contains a certain scenes of violence.

Although Million Dollar Baby is an intelligent and responsible movie, it deals bluntly with issue of disability and euthanasia, and may be very upsetting for younger and more sensitive children.