The first Hungarian Film Club

Let’s take a look at last week before starting preparation for visiting schools this week. Thursday was the day of the first Hungarian Film Club. Before the event, I was promoting in schools with the help of teachers. They gave me some time from their lessons and I had the chance to introduce the idea to the students. I told them a bit about Hungary, then about the development of cinematography, some important films and finally, the film club itself.

The poster

I also got a lot of technical help from Sylwia, our dear coordinator. Without her, I would have never figured out how to make posters with Publisher. :D We are borrowing the films from the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Warsaw, they are our official supporter.

 I am planning to have these kind of meetings twice a month, on Thursdays at 17:00 in our office at 3 Maja 19. This film club is not only for watching films. Nonono. The idea is to start the meetings with a little introduction, then watch the film which can be followed by discussions. This way, the students don’t only have the chance to get to know more about Hungary, watch foreign films but also to practice their English in a friendly environment.

As I told you, our first film club was last week. Finally, 8 students from Gimnazjum nr 1 came for the first meeting. We were welcoming them with the and 'kókuszgolyó’, the easiest cookie that you might know from a previous meeting.

Kókuszgolyó and tea

These students were encouraged by Pani Iwanowska and their Geography teacher. There has been a little misunderstanding, as they thought that they are going to see a film about Hungary and that the meeting will only last one hour. As they were expecting to get to know some things about Hungary, I started with telling a few things about Hungary while showing them a poster with pictures. After that, I introduced them the film that they were about to watch. The film, Sorstalanság, is based on a book and its author, Kertész Imre got a Nobel Prize in 2002. The story is about the life of a Hungarian Jewish boy who is deported to different concentration camps. It was inspired by personal experience, as the writer himself is a survivor of the Holocaust. The film version premiered in 2005 after long years of production. The producer is Koltai Lajos. Before, he has been a cameraman,  this is why the result is a beautiful scenery. The film also has an amazing soundtrack, composed by the world famous, award winning Ennio Morricone. Many students had to leave before the end of the film as they did not expect that the meeting is lasting so long.

The room is ready for the students

All in all, I am satisfied with the result. Every start is difficult, but I hope that I will be able to keep going with the film club as I really enjoyed the preparation and the meeting with the students, as well. The next film club is on the 6^th of February at 17:00! For more information about it, follow our blog and facebook page! 

That’s all folks! : )

Zsófi

New year, new ideas

Hello everybody!

I hope you are having a great time in this beautiful, sunny day. I started the week quite actively and early. I am planning to create a Hungarian film club here in Pułtusk, so I visited Liceum to introduce myself and to promote this idea.

It all started after I have arrived back from holidays. I have had the idea of a personal project in mind for a long time, I just did not have anything concrete. I wanted to create something which helps me introduce my country and at the same time it gives me the chance to get closer to local youth in a fun way. This is how the idea was born. Let’s see the process:

After some brainstorming with my dear coordinator, Sylwia, it was the time to make some posters and flyers for promotion. It’s enough to say that I am not going to be good friends with Publisher. I also asked some teachers to meet me. I told them about the idea and they were kind enough to help me with realizing my project. My other big supporter was the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Warsaw.

I have already visited them once back in October, that time I was just collecting information. This time I was more prepared and they were eager to lend me the film I chose. They also suggested sending a report about the first meeting and if it becomes regular, they offered to include my film club in their monthly programme. Aren’t they the best?

And now we have arrived to today’s promotion lessons. I prepared a presentation that lasts about 15 minutes.

I told the students a bit about Hungary which was followed by some information concerning film industry in Hungary. I also introduced them a couple of films that might be shown later on. I was very happy to see some interested faces, nothing is better than being appreciated. (Maybe chocolate ;))

My idea is not to just simply watch the film and leave. The meeting would start with a little introduction of the writer or the background of the film (something related). After that, we would watch the film together while enjoying some tea, cookies and sometimes even Hungarian specialties. The film would be followed by a discussion about the film. This way, the students would have the chance not only to get to know a bit of Hungary, but also to practice their English.

So that’s all folks, see you soon!

Zsófi


First meeting: 23.01.2014 17:00 @ 3 Maja 19 Pułtusk
Zapraszam! : )