Film clubs in Lithuanian schools motivate to study and improve relationships with teachers

According to a survey carried out by the Lithuanian Film Center, the film education project Film Clubs, which is taking place in Lithuanian schools for the fourth year already, motivates to study and improves student-teacher relationships. The project is constantly expanding and currently involves over 200 schools from over 40 cities and towns throughout the country. Schools can to join the project anytime throughout the year.

In January, the Lithuanian Film Centre surveyed teachers and students involved in the activity. In total 47 school teachers and 233 pupils from all over Lithuania took part in the survey. Most teachers rated the activity as successful and said it provided students with cultural experiences, encouraged students to think critically and introduced cinema as an art form. 127 film students emphasized that film clubs had improved their relationship with their teachers.

The results revealed that 85.1% of teachers believe that participating in film clubs helps students to develop communication skills through expressing their opinions and socializing with others. 72.3% perceive the benefits of learning from good examples seen in films, while 63.8% highlight skills for developing personal qualities such as empathy and self-confidence. As many as 70.2% of teachers agreed that film clubs strengthen student relationships, while 59.6% think that they also improve teacher-student relationships.

According to the surveyed teachers, the film clubs have the biggest influence for:

• Developing communication skills –72,3 % of teachers
• Developing empathy – 68,1 %
• Greater satisfaction with school – 68,1 %
• Greater interest in culture – 63,8 %
• Additional motivation for studying – 44,7 %
• Improvement in behaviour – 40,4 %
• Encouraging career interest in creative industries – 38,3 %
• Improvement of learning outcomes – 31,9 %

Students also appreciated the benefits of participating in the film clubs. Key findings: This activity provided more knowledge (159), students learned to analyze and evaluate films better (146), and encouraged critical thinking (141). According to 143 students, the film clubs have made the school a more interesting place. Children point out that this activity has helped them to better understand the world and learn about different cultures. Film clubs also helped them to expand their vocabulary and improve communication and public speaking skills (123 students).

Benefits of film clubs to different disciplines (233 students surveyed):

1. Civic education (197)
2. History (183)
3. Foreign languages (169)
4. Native language and literature (167)
5. Art lessons (156)
6. Social Sciences (137)

Developed Skills:

• Feel more motivated to learn new things (116)
• Gained self-confidence (129 students)
• The ability to express thoughts (122)
• Feeling more tolerant (145)
• Made new friends (105)

The survey revealed that most schools choose to screen feature films, less often documentaries and animated films. 59.6% favours feature films, 40.4% – short films. Most schools prefer cinema classics. The results of the student survey also reveal that students (84,5%) prefer feature-length films.

Schools can join the project at any time

All Lithuanian schools can take part in the activities of the film clubs. Schools set up a club to hold legal film screenings after classes. Screenings take place weekly or depending on possibilities. Screenings are organized according to a specially crafted catalog. Additional activities can be organized after the screenings. The catalog is made up of European films, the third of which consists of Lithuanian films, including classics, such as The Beauty (Gražuolė, dir. A. Žebriūnas, 1969), Flight over the Atlantic (Skrydis per Atlantą, dir. R. Vabalas, 1983), The Children from the Hotel America (Vaikai iš „Amerikos“ viešbučio, dir. R. Banionis, 1990), The Devil’s Bride (Velnio nuotaka, dir. A. Žebriūnas, 1974) and others. By joining the project’s website, the school can select films of their interest and legally screen them to students.

In order to join the project, first please sign a cooperation agreement, and then you will be able to join the film base. Teachers also receive a Film Club Guide with practical tips on how to organize the clubs. To join the Film Club, we invite teachers to contact Karolina Dačkutė: k.dackute@lkc.lt.

Film catalogue can be found here.

Film Clubs is part of the European film clubs and schools licensing and is implemented by the Lithuanian Film Center in