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Film and literature topics on frenchteacher

The new MFL A-levels for first teaching from September 2016, will involve teaching film and literature, assessed by essay in the target language - thankfully ALCAB's proposal for essays in English was rejected by Ofqual after consultation. This focus on film and literature reflects the bias of universities and will not be to every teacher's taste, but that's what we have been given to work with.

My first recommendation for resources on French film and literature is Steve Glover's ALF. Steve also has resources for German and Spanish. You can buy individual resource packs for a good range of films and works of literature. The resources combine analysis with language practice very effectively. In addition, schools will no doubt want to make sure they have a small stock of library books about authors and film directors in both English and French.

I have a range of practical resources on frenchteacher which we used at Ripon Grammar School where our focus was always on film and literature. They include links to quality online resources which I spent a good deal of time researching. Here is the list:

L'Etranger - Camus

Worksheets
Prose translation – Meursault
Plot summary in French (link)
Webcamus site – good (link)
Some good insights  (link)
Useful notes from Greenhead College (link)
Very clear notes in English by D. Barfield (link)
BBC Radio 4 In Our Time programme (link)
Talk on the absurd by Robert Solomon (link)
Youtube link to a live stage adaptation (link)

La Peste - Camus

Worksheets  (Folio Plus ed.)
Good biography in French with photos (link)
Clear analyses of character and situation (link)
Some good background material (link)
Sparknotes summaries and analysis in English (link)
Wikipedia entry in English (link)
French wikipedia entry (link)
Very good analysis of Doctor Rieux from Etudes Littéraires site (link)
Interesting analysis of the novel in French from Etudes Littéraires site (link)
More on Sisyphus and Revolt (link)
TV5 video report and exercises on Camus (link)
AQA model exam essay on Rieux
AQA model exam essay on main themes
AQA model exam essay on role of life of author (by Giles Pitts)
Questions for discussion
La Peste – qui aurait dit cela?
La Peste – mots croisés en ligne

Les petits enfants du siècle - Christiane Rochefort

 Worksheets for each chapter by Anne Swainston
De qui parle-t-on?
Ecrivez des phrases
Qui est-ce?

Jules et Jim - Henri-Pierre Roché - film dir. François Truffaut

Lyrics to Le Tourbillon de la Vie
Jules et Jim Part 1 Chapters 1-3
Jules et Jim Part 1 Chapters 4-11
Jules et Jim Part 2 Chapters 1-4
Jules et Jim Part 2 Chapters 5-9
Essay titles
Jules et Jim film scene summary
Exercises on characters
Questions for discussion and writing
Revealing video interview with Truffaut (link)
Films de France review (English) (link)
Dudley Andrew essay (link)
Derek Malcolm review (link)
Roger Ebert review (link)
Pauline Kael review (link)
Daria Galateria’s notes on the sources of the film (link)
Jean-Christophe Delpias’ site about Truffaut (link)
Nezumi Dumousseau’s site about Truffaut(link)
Henri-Pierre Roché – biographical sketch (link)
Roy Strafford on the New Wave, Truffaut and Jules et Jim (link)
Internet Movie Database page – register and read or contribute comments! (link)

Germinal - Zola

Detailed worksheets and vocabulary
Work booklet on Boule de Suif, by Virginie Passerat

Les mains sales - Sartre

Worksheets for all tableaux 
Key quotations on philosophical and political aspects
Sartre – first principles

Les 400 Coups, Le Dernier métro, La Nuit américaine - dir. Truffaut

The new wave in French cinema (link)
Truffaut biography – translation into French (link)
Video interviews with director Serge Toubiana (link)
Analysis of Les 400 Coups by Anne Gillain (link)
Detailed dossier on Les 400 Coups from ABC-lefrance.com (link)
Questions to discuss on Les 400 Coups (link)
IMDB entry and reviews on Les 400 Coups (link)
Good article on Les 400 Coups (link)
Pedagogical guide for teachers on Le Dernier Métro (link)
Alternative version of the above (link)
IMDB entry and reviews of Le Dernier Métro (link)
Discussion questions on Le Dernier Métro
Good blog post on La Nuit Américaine
IMDB entry and reviews of La Nuit Américaine

Au Revoir les enfants - dir. Louis Malle 

Worksheets by Paul Haywood

Jean de Florette, Manon des sources, Germinal, Lucie Aubrac - dir. Claude Berri

Jean de Florette résumé- gap fill
Manon des Sources résumé – gap fill
Eau des Collines résumé – matching task
Jean Cadoret – gap fill
Ugolin Soubeyran – gap fill
César Soubeyran- gap fill
Jean de Florette: characters
Just for fun: French and Saunders on Depardieu (link)
Video interview with Daniel Auteuil (link)
Worksheet on the above interview
Study notes by Stuart Fernie (link)
Biography of Claude Berri (link)
CATS College Cambridge page (link)
Extract from a dossier pédagogique (link)
Short Guardian article on Claude Berri (link)
Heritage films – Germinal (link)
Germinal synopsis with glossary (link)
Résumé gap fill
Characters
Mining vocabulary
Germinal early scenes worksheet
Question sheet on history of mining in northern France (link)
Germinal: industrial relations discussion task
Germinal: translation passage
Obituary of Lucie Aubrac for summary (link)
Lucie Aubrac reviews plus exercises
Lucie Aubrac review and vocab
Lucie Aubrac biography with glossary
Review of Lucie Aubrac (link)

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