St Andrews Modern Foreign Languages Film Festival is a charity event organised by the Languages Department - Ms Milene, Ms Marcela and Ms Astrid in particular - and Year 12 students Darcy and Nina, where three short films/animations in different languages (with English subtitles) and different genres were shown each day in the Atrium over 4 days.
The reason behind holding the Film Festival was to showcase the different languages being taught in St. Andrews, along with making different cultures visible in an international environment. As Darcy and Nina from Year 12 state, “We got involved with this fun event because we think it’s good to spread awareness and promote different languages since we’re an international school!” The students were responsible for selecting the films, choosing the subtitles, making the posters, choosing and contacting the chosen charity and organising the resources such as the popcorn. Darcy and Nina were also able to link their participation in the Film Festival to their Senior CAS program.
The Film Festival took place over the course of 4 days, from Tuesday 6th to Friday 9th of June. On Tuesday, ‘TMB Panyee FC,’ ‘Chinese New Year’ and ‘Le Retour des Vagues' were played, and on Wednesday, ‘Cuerdas,’ ‘The Right Place’ and ‘A Bad Case of the Genre Fusion.’ were the films of choice. On Thursday, ‘The Visit,’ ‘This Time’ and ‘Navi9ator,’ were shown, and songs from Disney movies ‘Encanto’ and ‘Frozen,’ featured on the Friday. Together with popcorn and drinks supplied at a small stand in the Atrium, the experience as spectators recalled was both “interesting” and “fun”. One student commented that “People enjoy the movies and popcorn. It really connects everyone within our international community with different languages.”
Additionally, some of the films shown promoted messages of inclusivity - for example ‘Cuerdas,’ which touches on the topic of disability in school with a beautiful story and simple message - to be inclusive. Which, as Darcy states, “fits in with the inclusiveness of St Andrews, since we’re a very inclusive school!”
And so, the first MFL Film Festival successfully showed how it is important to embrace all of our cultural differences, and promote inclusivity of different languages in our diverse learning community. “I think it should be encouraged!” Nina adds. As a whole, the Film Festival also helped encourage students who have an interest in different languages, cultures and films. As Ms Marcela observed, “The idea of the Film Festival is to motivate the students to learn, to participate in language activities and explore different options. Come to the Language Department and come and participate in the second edition next year!”
Year 5 students stepped out of the classroom and into the kitchen for a special Thai cooking class hosted by the talented chefs from getfresh. Under the guidance of the getfresh chefs, they learned about kitchen safety, teamwork, and, most importantly, the steps involved in cooking traditional Thai food like Tom Gai Kai and Lod Chong. The interactive session gave students the chance to discover new skills and connect with Thai culture in a fun and meaningful way.
Nine Year 11 and 12 students from St Andrews recently embarked on a service trip to Buriram in northeast Thailand to visit the Mechai Pattana Bamboo School, which has a unique model of education that blends academics with sustainability practices, entrepreneurship, and community development. St Andrews students engaged in hands-on activities and cultural exchange with local student boarders to gain first-hand experience for unique initiatives such as the ‘Agriculture for the Blind’ programme.
