Last Wednesday, the A-level German students travelled to the British Film Institute at the Southbank in London. The purpose of this trip was to build on their cultural knowledge, expand their vocabulary and improve their critical film analysis skills by exploring key themes and styles in contemporary German cinema.
Conducted almost exclusively in German, the morning consisted of a clip-based presentation introducing the themes, teaching film-specific vocabulary in German and analysing key scenes. The session was led by the very energetic and encouraging Dr Judith Rifeser, and the activities supported the students in building their critical film analysis skills.
The students examined four films set in the German Democratic Republic (“Sonnenallee”, “Balloon”, “Das Leben der Anderen” and “Goodbye Lenin”), and discussed the variation in camera angles as well as the film music used in each film. Our students were praised for their perceptive ideas, active involvement, and excellent German. The day ended with a comparison between the opening scenes of “Das Leben Der Anderen” and “Goodbye Lenin”. Overall, the day was enjoyed by all and proved to be a very useful day of studies for our German students.
.JPG&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Queen Anne's students shine with impressive 2022 A Level results")
