Belle et Sebastien

On Wednesday 26th April, 43 élèves and 3 professeurs took off at 7.30 am, headed to the British Film Insitute, Southbank, London for a French Study Day.  After a less than straightforward 3-hour-journey, we arrived at the venue and joined another 350 KS3 élèves for a morning of workshops based on 3 French court-métrages: "Les chaussures de Louis", "L'Or Bleu" and "Mémo".  All 3 short films have received awards and as well as helping les élèves practising their French skills, their subject matter (Autism, Environmental Issues, Dementia) gave them some food for thought.  After a short pause-déjeuner on the riverbank, we returned to the auditorium to be treated to an afternoon showing of a French feature length film: "Belle et Sébastien".  We watched the French version with sous-titres.
 
This is IMDb's description of the plot:  In 1943, in the French Alps, the orphan Sébastien lives in a small village with his grandfather César, who is a shepherd, and his aunt Angélina, who is a baker.  The local Dr. Guillaume is a member of the Frech resistance that helps Jewish refugees to flee to Switzerland and the German Lieutenant Peter and troop are hunting down the resistance.  When sheep are found slaughtered, César and the other residents believe that a stray dog that has been abused by his owner is the responsible and hunt it down.  Sébastien finds the dog, gives the name of Belle to her and they become friends. But the animal is considered a beast by the inhabitants.  Will Sébastien be capable to save Belle?
 
For many, this was probably the first opportunity they'd had to be immersed in the French language for nearly 2 hours and I think Y9 found the whole experience intéressante,agréable et utile.
 
I would like to congratulate the group for their impeccable behaviour and involvement with the activities on offer.  They were a credit to themselves, their family and the school.  Bravo et merci!
Mme T