Educational programs at Gargždai Cinema "Minija"

Educational films are an attractive and effective teaching tool. During the educational program at the Minija cinema, participants will be introduced to auteur cinema and broaden their cultural horizons. Educational film program for grades 1-4: Jokūbas, Mimi ir kalbantys šunys (Jacob, Mimi, and the Talking Dogs), Net ir pelės keliauja į dangų (Even Mice Go to Heaven), Bintė. Educational film program for grades 5-8: Romi Salon, The Fighter, An Extraordinary Summer with Tesa, Give Me Wings. Educational film program for grades 9-12: Earth, Stop, I Never Cry. All films are followed by a discussion about the film. The discussions creatively and interactively reveal the most relevant topics to the participants, encourage them to talk about them, and at the same time teach them to listen to the opinions of others, expand and strengthen their cultural identity, and teach them the basics of film language.

Educational films are an attractive and effective teaching tool. During the educational program at the Minija cinema, participants will be introduced to auteur cinema and broaden their cultural horizons. Schools can choose from a specially selected program of films. All films are accompanied by a tour of the unique cinema museum, which displays various cinema and photography equipment, introducing different image formats, technical capabilities, and projections. Educational film program for grades 1-4: “Jacob, Mimi and the Talking Dogs,” “Even Mice Go to Heaven,” “Bintė.” Educational film program for grades 5-8: “Romi Salon,” “The Fighter,” “An Extraordinary Summer with Tesa,” “Give Me Wings.” Educational film program for grades 9-12: “Earth, Stop,” “I Never Cry,” “The Pack,” etc. The educational film program is compiled according to the relevance of the theme to the respective age group, high artistic value, cultural horizons, and exceptional cinematic language criteria.

Using cinema and workshops to respond to the cultural needs of the region, introduce auteur cinema and its history, broaden cultural horizons, and foster critical and creative thinking. To achieve this goal, a special program of educational films is being developed to meet the needs of students of different ages, as well as educational workshops during which optical toys—taumatrope—are created. During the workshops, participants will learn about the prehistory of cinema and learn how to make a moving picture – a “paper GIF” and a thaumatrope. A “paper GIF” is a simple drawing of two frames in motion. It resembles a fragment of animation. The rapidly changing frames create the illusion of real movement.

The thaumatrope, an ancient optical toy or spinning wonder, was popular in the 19th century. It is a cardboard spinning disc with a drawing on it. Each side of the disc has part of the drawing. When the discs spin quickly, they optically combine both drawings into one. It is a fun activity that brings a lot of joy to both the creator and the viewer. After the workshop, participants are invited to the cinema, where they will see a special film program. The program is compiled according to the relevance of the themes, the uniqueness of the cinematic language, and the artistic value. Educational film program for grades 1-6: My Mom is a Gorilla, Jacob, Mimi and the Talking Dogs, Even Mice Go to Heaven, Bintė, Romi Salon, The Extraordinary Journey of Marona. The film program is constantly being updated. Film descriptions: www.mokausiiskino.lt