I spent some time on Reddit this week looking for places to connect with other film teachers, and noticed two things I want to address here:
1. Film teachers are often at a loss as to where to start. So I’m going to share the various syllabi I’ve created here soon, rather than dole it out film by film. I’ll still write detailed pieces about the films, but later.
2. More than one of the replies to these honest requests advised them to show Citizen Kane, among other difficult films (Requiem for a DREAM? In HIGH SCHOOL? Cue mass suicides!). This is like telling a kid who wants to learn to rap that they must study Elvis - or ragtime - first. Not true, not helpful. You want them to fall in love with movies. If they do that, then they’ll delve into the history and the challenging stuff.
In this post I will talk about the first point. In the next, the second.
Here are three movie lists (two for my Intro to Film grade 11 course, and one about what I teach in grade 12). I am fortunate to be able to teach what I want - and of course you might have to modify these lists to suit your tastes and community standards - but these are great films to teach.
I don’t worry about swearing, although I let kids know beforehand. I let students opt out of films they don’t want to see (rarely taken up) and I always try to be inclusive and representative). Lately my students let me know which warnings I should have given if I miss one. They know more about trigger warnings than I do, and I’m down to learn.
That being said, male directors dominate these courses. I am working on this (so is the industry), and welcome ideas for improving this aspect of the lists.
Grade 11 Film Studies
This course is Hollywood-centred, and often chronological, although I do switch it up when I sense a group is not digging the old stuff (and therefore needing more time to get to that point). I don’t try (anymore) to force these films into four units, and rather treat each film as its own unit. I’ll give fuller explanations in future posts.
The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan (2008)
A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès (1905, restored)
The Kid, Charlie Chaplin (1921)
Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
Bonnie and Clyde, Arthur Penn (1967)
Jaws, Stephen Spielberg (1975)
Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee (1989)
Thelma & Louise, Ridley Scott (1991)
The Matrix, The Wachowskis (1999)
Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham (2018)
Mid-90s, Jonah Hill (2018)
The Hate U Give, George Tillman Jr. (2018)
Alternate Course: Teen Movies
During COVID’s first year I altered the course to be less heavy. Don’t know if I needed to, but it was kind of fun: we studied movies about teenagers, which included:
Rebel without a Cause, Nicholas Ray (1955)
American Graffiti, George Lucas (1973)
The Breakfast Club, John Hughes (1985)
Pretty in Pink, John Hughes (1986)
Boyz n the Hood, John Singleton (1991)
Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater (1993)
Freaks and Geeks (TV), Judd Apatow, Episode 1 (1999)
Mean Girls, Mark Waters (2004)
Napoleon Dynamite, Jared Hess (2004)
Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham (2018)
The Hate U Give, George Tillman Jr. (2018)
Grade 12 Film Studies
This course introduces the wider world, especially Canadian films (I’m in Canada). It always includes one director study, in which we watch three films by one director and explore trademarks, style, and the Auteur Theory. Generally I let the class choose the director (from a selection offered). Same goes for the many single films listed below – sometimes students request them, sometimes I choose one or another if it seems a good fit.
Note: In many years I have had the class create a short film of some kind – a crappy horror movie, or a grad film yearbook-type thing. This works only because I generally have small classes. I find having the students try all of the various roles and work collaboratively very rewarding, but I do tend to have to edit the final product myself, often in the following summer. The real downside is that we then watch only about half as many films; it’s a choice.
Director Study
The Hudsucker Proxy (2004)
Fargo (1996)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
(Sometimes I substitute O Brother Where Art Thou (2000) for Hudsucker.)
The Host (2006)
Snowpiercer (2013)
Parasite (2019)
Rushmore (1998)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) or The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Children of Men (2006)
Gravity (2013)
Roma (2018)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
Any of the above films can be used individually, and I pretty much always make sure to include Fargo, Children of Men and Scott Pilgrim if possible (because I’m very familiar with them and they tend to work).
C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean Marc Vallee (RIP) (2005) (Canada, Quebec)
Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Jeff Barnaby (2013) (Canada, Mi’qmaq)
Wild Tales, Damián Szifron (2014) (Argentina)
Where Is the Friend’s Home?, Abbas Kiarostami (1987) (Iran)
The White Balloon, Jafar Panahi (1985) (Iran)
Other Films I’ve taught in one or another of these courses:
Dolemite Is My Name, Craig Brewer (2019)
I taught once in film 12 in COVID Year 01.
Another Earth, Mike Cahill (2009)
I taught this a couple of years in the early 2010s.
Stand by Me, Rob Reiner (1986)
I teach this every year in grade 9 English as a film study.
Sharknado, Anthony C. Ferrante (2013)
I taught once in film 12 in COVID Year 01.
The Room, Tommy Wiseau (2003)
along with The Disaster Artist, James Franco (2017).
I taught these by student request about five years ago.
ADDENDUM:
I forgot about Katherine Bigelow’s Hurt Locker (2008), which I’ve shown many times over the years.
AND I forgot Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975), which I showed next to Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006) - they complement each other very nicely, and who doesn’t love a good bank robbery?
AND I forgot a little unit I did a couple times on Road Movies, which included (in addition to Thelma and Louise, Little Miss Sunshine (2006) by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton and (one of my favourite films) Bruce McDonald’s Hard Core Logo (1996).
I’ve been searching the internet looking at lists, and I can see some more Female directors I can easily add going forward. I loved A Girl Walks Home at Night, directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (2014), and Persepolis, directed by Marjane Satrapi in 2007. I dig Miranda July’s Me, You and Everyone We Know, but I’ll have to watch it again as a candidate for my class.
Funny when it’s all laid out, to see the holes in the coverage. I’ll keep looking. To be continued. Suggestions still welcome!