Beviser tyder på, at mennesker i alle aldre i alle kulturer har skabt deres identitet på en eller anden narrativ form. Fra mor til datter, fra præst til forsamling, lærer til elev, fortæller til tilhørere. Hvad enten i hulemalerier eller den seneste brug af internettet, har mennesker altid fortalt deres historier og sandheder gennem lignelse og fabel. Vi er inkarnerede fortællere.
Evidence suggests that humans in all ages and from all cultures create their identity in some kind of narrative form. From mother to daughter, preacher to congregant, teacher to pupil, storyteller to audience. Whether in cave paintings or the latest uses of the Internet, human beings have always told their histories and truths through parable and fable. We are inveterate storytellers.
Men hvor, i vores stigende sekulariserede og fragmenterede verden, tilbyder vi et fællesskab af erfaring, direkte af vores egen rasende forbrugerisme? Og hvilken fortælling, hvilken historie, hvilken identitet, hvilket moralkodeks, giver vi videre til vores unge?
But where, in our increasingly secular and fragmented world, do we offer communality of experience, unmediated by our own furious consumerism? And what narrative, what history, what identity, what moral code are we imparting to our young?
Filmkunst er vel sagtens det 20 århundredes mest indflydelsesrige kunstform. Det er kunstnere der fortæller historier på tværs af nationale grænser, i så mange sprog, genrer og filosofier som man kan forestille sig. Bestemt, det er svært at finde et emne som film endnu ikke har taklet. I løbet af det sidste årti har vi set en stor integration af globale medier, nu domineret af en kultur af Hollywood blockbusteren. Vi bliver i stigende grad tilbudt en diæt hvor sensation, ikke historie, er kongen. Det der var almindeligt for os alle for 40 år siden -- historiefortællingen mellem generationer -- er nu fortyndet. Som filmskaber, bekymrede det mig. Som menneske, gør det mig gudfrygtig. Hvilken fremtid kunne de unge bygge med så lidt forståelse af hvor vi er kommet fra, og så få fortællinger om hvad der er muligt? Ironien er tyk; teknisk tilgængelighed har aldrig været større, kulturel tilgængelig har aldrig været svagere.
Cinema is arguably the 20th century's most influential art form. Its artists told stories across national boundaries, in as many languages, genres and philosophies as one can imagine. Indeed, it is hard to find a subject that film has yet to tackle. During the last decade we've seen a vast integration of global media, now dominated by a culture of the Hollywood blockbuster. We are increasingly offered a diet in which sensation, not story, is king. What was common to us all 40 years ago -- the telling of stories between generations -- is now rarified. As a filmmaker, it worried me. As a human being, it puts the fear of God in me. What future could the young build with so little grasp of where they've come from and so few narratives of what's possible? The irony is palpable; technical access has never been greater, cultural access never weaker.
Så i 2006 startede vi FILMCLUB, en organisation der hver uge viste film i skoler efterfulgt af diskussioner. Hvis vi kunne bruge 100 års film, kunne vi måske bygge en fortælling der kunne give mening til den fragmenterede og rastløse verden de unge lever i. Med tilgang til teknologi, selv en lille skole på landet kunne projektere en DVD på en hvid væg.
And so in 2006 we set up FILMCLUB, an organization that ran weekly film screenings in schools followed by discussions. If we could raid the annals of 100 years of film, maybe we could build a narrative that would deliver meaning to the fragmented and restless world of the young. Given the access to technology, even a school in a tiny rural hamlet could project a DVD onto a white board.
I løbet af de første ni måneder havde vi 25 klubber i hele England, med børn i aldersgrupper mellem fem og 18 der så en film, uafbrudt i 90 minutter. Filmene blev organiseret og sat i kontekst. Men det var deres valg, og vores publikum voksede hurtigt til at vælge den rigeste mest varierede kost som vi kunne give. Resultatet, med det samme. Det var en uddannelse af den mest overraskende og ændrende måde. I grupper så store som 150 og så små som tre, opdagede disse unge mennesker nye steder, nye tanker, nye perspektiver. Da den første udsendelse var slut, havde vi navnene på tusind skoler der ville være med.
In the first nine months we ran 25 clubs across the U.K., with kids in age groups between five and 18 watching a film uninterrupted for 90 minutes. The films were curated and contextualized. But the choice was theirs, and our audience quickly grew to choose the richest and most varied diet that we could provide. The outcome, immediate. It was an education of the most profound and transformative kind. In groups as large as 150 and as small as three, these young people discovered new places, new thoughts, new perspectives. By the time the pilot had finished, we had the names of a thousand schools that wished to join.
Den film der ændrede mit liv er en film fra 1951 af Vittorio De Sica, "Miraklet i Milano." Det er en bemærkelsesværdig kommentar på slum, fattigdom og ambition. Jeg så filmen i anledning af min fars 50 års fødselsdag. Datidens teknologi gjorde at vi måtte leje en biograf, finde og betale for printet og operatøren. Men for min far, var den følelsesmæssige og artistiske vigtighed af De Sicas vision så stor at han valgte at fejre hans halve århundrede med hans tre børn og 30 af deres venner. "For at," sagde han, "videregive stafetten af bekymring og håb til den næste generation."
The film that changed my life is a 1951 film by Vittorio De Sica, "Miracle in Milan." It's a remarkable comment on slums, poverty and aspiration. I had seen the film on the occasion of my father's 50th birthday. Technology then meant we had to hire a viewing cinema, find and pay for the print and the projectionist. But for my father, the emotional and artistic importance of De Sica's vision was so great that he chose to celebrate his half-century with his three teenage children and 30 of their friends, "In order," he said, "to pass the baton of concern and hope on to the next generation."
I den sidste scene af "Miraklet i Milano," flyver folk fra slummen på flyvende koste. Tres år efter filmen blev lavet og tredive år efter jeg først så den, ser jeg unge ansigter kigge op i dyb respekt deres skepsis matcher min. Og hastigheden hvormed de associerer det med "Slumdog Millionaire" eller favelaerne i Rio taler til det varige væsen.
In the last shot of "Miracle in Milan," slum-dwellers float skyward on flying brooms. Sixty years after the film was made and 30 years after I first saw it, I see young faces tilt up in awe, their incredulity matching mine. And the speed with which they associate it with "Slumdog Millionaire" or the favelas in Rio speaks to the enduring nature.
I en FILMCLUB sæson om demokrati og regering, vi viste "Mr. Smith kommer til byen." Lavet i 1939, filmen er ældre end de fleste af vores medlemmers bedsteforældre. Frank Capras klassiske værdier om uafhængighed og anstændighed. Det viser hvordan man gør det rigtigt, hvordan man er heroisk akavet. Det er også et udtryk for tro på den politiske maskine som en ærens kraft.
In a FILMCLUB season about democracy and government, we screened "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Made in 1939, the film is older than most of our members' grandparents. Frank Capra's classic values independence and propriety. It shows how to do right, how to be heroically awkward. It is also an expression of faith in the political machine as a force of honor.
Kort efter "Mr. Smith" blev en FILMCLUB klassiker, der var en uges med nætter af filibustering i Overhuset. Og det var med stor fornøjelse at vi fandt ud af at unge mennesker fra hele landet med kompetent myndighed forklarede hvad filibustering var og hvorfor medemmer af Overhuset trodsede deres sengetid på grund af et princip. Jimmi Stewart havde trods alt filibustered to hele filmruller.
Shortly after "Mr. Smith" became a FILMCLUB classic, there was a week of all-night filibustering in the House of Lords. And it was with great delight that we found young people up and down the country explaining with authority what filibustering was and why the Lords might defy their bedtime on a point of principle. After all, Jimmy Stewart filibustered for two entire reels.
Da vi valgte "Hotel Rwanda", udforskede de folkemordets brutale natur. Det fremprovokerede tårer lige så vel som skarpe spørgsmål om ubevæbnede fredsbevarende styrker og det dobbeltmoralske vestlige samfund der vælger dens moralske kampe med forbrugsartikler i tankerne. Og da "Schindlers Liste" krævede at de aldrig ville glemme, et barn, fuldt med smerten om bevidstheden, bemærkede, "Vi havde allerede glemt det, hvordan kunne 'Hotel Rwanda' ske?"
In choosing "Hotel Rwanda," they explored genocide of the most brutal kind. It provoked tears as well as incisive questions about unarmed peace-keeping forces and the double-dealing of a Western society that picks its moral fights with commodities in mind. And when "Schindler's List" demanded that they never forget, one child, full of the pain of consciousness, remarked, "We already forgot, otherwise how did 'Hotel Rwanda' happen?"
I takt med at de så flere film, blev deres liv mærkbart rigere. "Lommetyven" startede en debat om kriminel fratagelse af stemmeretten. "Den hårde klasse" tændte sig teenager tilskuerne. De fejrede en holdningsændring til ikke-hvide englændere, men rasede over vores rastløse skole system der ikke værdsætter vores kollektive identitet, i modsætning til Sidney Poitiers forsigtige vejledning.
As they watch more films their lives got palpably richer. "Pickpocket" started a debate about criminality disenfranchisement. "To Sir, with Love" ignited its teen audience. They celebrated a change in attitude towards non-white Britons, but railed against our restless school system that does not value collective identity, unlike that offered by Sidney Poitier's careful tutelage.
Nu havde disse eftertænksomme, påståelige, nysgerrige, unge mennesker ikke nogen betænkeligheder ved at tackle alle former for film -- sort og hvid, undertekster, dokumentarer, ikke-narrativer, fantasier -- og så det som en selvfølge at skrive detaljerede anmeldelser der konkurrerede om at favorisere en film frem for en anden i passioneret og stigende sofistikeret prosa. Seks tusinde anmeldelser per skoleuge konkurrerede hver uge efter æren af et være ugens anmeldelse.
By now, these thoughtful, opinionated, curious young people thought nothing of tackling films of all forms -- black and white, subtitled, documentary, non-narrative, fantasy -- and thought nothing of writing detailed reviews that competed to favor one film over another in passionate and increasingly sophisticated prose. Six thousand reviews each school week vying for the honor of being review of the week.
Fra 25 klubber, blev vi hundrede, derefter tusinde, indtil vi næsten hver en kvart million børn i 7.000 klubber over hele landet. Og selv antallet var, og stadig er, forbløffende, det der var mere forbløffende var oplevelsen af kritiske og nysgerrige spørgsmål oversat til liv. Nogle af vores børn begyndte at tale med deres forældre, andre med deres lærere, eller med deres venner. Og dem uden venner begyndte at få dem.
From 25 clubs, we became hundreds, then thousands, until we were nearly a quarter of a million kids in 7,000 clubs right across the country. And although the numbers were, and continue to be, extraordinary, what became more extraordinary was how the experience of critical and curious questioning translated into life. Some of our kids started talking with their parents, others with their teachers, or with their friends. And those without friends started making them.
Filmene sørgede for fællesskab tværs over alle slags skel. Og historierne de fortalte gav en delt oplevelse. "Persepolis" bragte en datter tættere på hendes mor, og "Dødens Gab" blev måden hvorpå en ung dreng var i stand til at udtrykke den skræk han havde oplevet i flugten fra volden der først dræbte hans far, derefter hans mor, den sidstnævnte blev smidt overbord på en bådtur.
The films provided communality across all manner of divide. And the stories they held provided a shared experience. "Persepolis" brought a daughter closer to her Iranian mother, and "Jaws" became the way in which one young boy was able to articulate the fear he'd experienced in flight from violence that killed first his father then his mother, the latter thrown overboard on a boat journey.
Hvem havde ret, hvem havde uret? Hvad ville de gøre under de samme vilkår? Var historien godt fortalt? Var det et skjult budskab? Hvordan har verden ændret sig? Hvordan kunne det være anderledes? En tsunami af spørgsmål fløj ud af munden på børnene som verden ikke troede der var interesserede. Og de troede selv de ikke havde bekymret sig om det. Og som de skrev og debatterede, i stedet for at se filmene som produkter, begyndte de at se sig selv.
Who was right, who wrong? What would they do under the same conditions? Was the tale told well? Was there a hidden message? How has the world changed? How could it be different? A tsunami of questions flew out of the mouths of children who the world didn't think were interested. And they themselves had not known they cared. And as they wrote and debated, rather than seeing the films as artifacts, they began to see themselves.
Jeg har en tante der er en vidunderlig historiefortæller. På et øjeblik kan hun fremkalde billeder af at løbe barfodet på Table Mountain og lege røvere og soldater. For nylig fortalte hun mig at i 1948, rejste to af hendes søstre og min far på en båd til Israel uden mine bedsteforældre. Da søfolkene begik mytteri på åbent hav, med krav om menneskelige forhold, var det disse teenagere der fodrede bemandingen. Jeg var forbi de 40 da min far døde. Han nævnte aldrig den rejse.
I have an aunt who is a wonderful storyteller. In a moment she can invoke images of running barefoot on Table Mountain and playing cops and robbers. Quite recently she told me that in 1948, two of her sisters and my father traveled on a boat to Israel without my grandparents. When the sailors mutinied at sea in a demand for humane conditions, it was these teenagers that fed the crew. I was past 40 when my father died. He never mentioned that journey.
Min moders moder forlod Europa i en fart uden hendes mand, men med hendes tre-årige datter og diamanter der var syet ind i folderne i hendes nederdel. Efter at være under jorden i to år, dukke min farfar om i London. Han blev aldrig normal igen. Og hans historie blev holdt hemmelig i takt med at han blev integreret.
My mother's mother left Europe in a hurry without her husband, but with her three-year-old daughter and diamonds sewn into the hem of her skirt. After two years in hiding, my grandfather appeared in London. He was never right again. And his story was hushed as he assimilated.
Min historie startede i England med en ren tavle og tavsheden fra de immigrerede forældre. Jeg havde "Anne Frank", "Den store flugt", "Shoah", "Viljens triumf". Det var Leni Riefenstahl i hendes elegante Nazi propaganda der gav en kontekst til det familien skulle udholde. Disse film indholdte det der var for sårende at sige højt, og de blev mere nyttige for mig end de overlevendes hvisken og det lejlighedsvise glimt af en tatovering på en ugift tantes håndled.
My story started in England with a clean slate and the silence of immigrant parents. I had "Anne Frank," "The Great Escape," "Shoah," "Triumph of the Will." It was Leni Riefenstahl in her elegant Nazi propaganda who gave context to what the family had to endure. These films held what was too hurtful to say out loud, and they became more useful to me than the whispers of survivors and the occasional glimpse of a tattoo on a maiden aunt's wrist.
Purister føler måske at fiktion formøbler en søgen efter virkelig, menneskelig forståelse, at film er for primitive til at fortælle en kompleks og detaljeret historie, eller at filmskabere altid serverer drama frem for sandhed. Men i disse filmruller, ligger der et formål og en mening. Som en 12-årig sagde efter at have set "Troldmanden fra Oz", "Alle mennesker skulle se den, fordi hvis man ikke gør finder man måske aldrig ud af at man også har et hjerte".
Purists may feel that fiction dissipates the quest of real human understanding, that film is too crude to tell a complex and detailed history, or that filmmakers always serve drama over truth. But within the reels lie purpose and meaning. As one 12-year-old said after watching "Wizard of Oz," "Every person should watch this, because unless you do you may not know that you too have a heart."
Vi honorerer læsning, hvorfor ikke også honorere kigning med samme passion? Overvej "Den store mand" værende lige så værdifuldt som Jane Austen. Være enig i, at "Boyz n the Hood", ligesom Tennyson, tilbyder et følelsesmæssigt landskab og en forøget forståelse der arbejder sammen. Hvert et billede af mindeværdig kunst, hvert en mursten i væggen af hvem vi er. Og det er okay hvis vi husker Tom Hanks bedre end astronauten Jom Lovell eller at Ben Kingsleys ansigt huskes bedre end Gandhis. Og selvom de ikke er ægte, Eve Harrington, Howard Beale, Mildred Pierce er en mulighed for at opdage hvad det er at være et menneske, og ikke mindre nyttigt til at forstå vores liv og vores tid ligesom Shakespeare oplyste det elizabethianske England.
We honor reading, why not honor watching with the same passion? Consider "Citizen Kane" as valuable as Jane Austen. Agree that "Boyz n the Hood," like Tennyson, offers an emotional landscape and a heightened understanding that work together. Each a piece of memorable art, each a brick in the wall of who we are. And it's okay if we remember Tom Hanks better than astronaut Jim Lovell or have Ben Kingsley's face superimposed onto that of Gandhi's. And though not real, Eve Harrington, Howard Beale, Mildred Pierce are an opportunity to discover what it is to be human, and no less helpful to understanding our life and times as Shakespeare is in illuminating the world of Elizabethan England.
Vi gættede på at film, hvis historie er et mødested for drama, musik, litteratur og menneskelige oplevelser, ville engagere og inspirere de unge mennesker der deltog i FILMCLUB. Hvad vi ikke kunne have forudset var de målelige forbedringer i opførsel, selvtillid, og akademiske præstationer. Tidligere tilbageholdende studerende skynder sig nu i skole, taler med deres lærere, slås, ikke på legepladsen, men om at vælge næste uges film -- unge mennesker der har fundet selv-definition, ambition og en appetit for uddannelse og social engagement fra de historier de har været vidner til.
We guessed that film, whose stories are a meeting place of drama, music, literature and human experience, would engage and inspire the young people participating in FILMCLUB. What we could not have foreseen was the measurable improvements in behavior, confidence and academic achievement. Once-reluctant students now race to school, talk to their teachers, fight, not on the playground, but to choose next week's film -- young people who have found self-definition, ambition and an appetite for education and social engagement from the stories they have witnessed.
Vores medlemmer trodser den smalsporede beskrivelse af hvordan vi så tit beskriver vores unge. De er hverken vilde eller snæversynede og selvoptagede. De, ligesom andre unge mennesker, forhandler med en verden med uendelige muligheder, men meget lidt kultur i hvordan man finder en meningsfyldt oplevelse. Vi synede overraskede over deres opførsel af dem der definerede sig selv på størrelsen af mærket på deres sko, men tilegnelsen har været den narrativ vi har tilbudt.
Our members defy the binary description of how we so often describe our young. They are neither feral nor myopically self-absorbed. They are, like other young people, negotiating a world with infinite choice, but little culture of how to find meaningful experience. We appeared surprised at the behaviors of those who define themselves by the size of the tick on their shoes, yet acquisition has been the narrative we have offered.
Hvis vi vil have andre værdier må vi fortælle en anden fortælling, en fortælling der forstår at en individuel narrativ er en essentiel del af et menneskes identitet, at en kollektiv narrativ er en essentiel del af en kulturel identitet, og uden det er det umuligt at forestille en selv som en del af en gruppe. Fordi disse mennesker kommer hjem efter en visning af "Skjulte øjne", og løfter blikket mod bygningen ved siden af, har de værktøjerne til at undre sig over hvem, ud over sig selv, er derude og hvad deres historie er.
If we want different values we have to tell a different story, a story that understands that an individual narrative is an essential component of a person's identity, that a collective narrative is an essential component of a cultural identity, and without it it is impossible to imagine yourself as part of a group. Because when these people get home after a screening of "Rear Window" and raise their gaze to the building next door, they have the tools to wonder who, apart from them, is out there and what is their story.
Tak.
Thank you.
(Bifald)
(Applause)