Finish Line!
“And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within.”
Chariots of Fire
This quote and image posted without context. Indeed, does it need any?
Hopefully the gif above captures a little bit about how you are feeling right now! The last thing you might care about are recent site updates, so consider this post to be a congratulatory celebration. You made it. The students made it. And you helped them get across that finish line.
You're Still Here?
Well, it may be over for the Year Twos, we're still working with the Year ones… and then there's next year's Year Ones to think about. Here are some site updates and a recommendation for your consideration.
Site Updates
AI and Non-Original Materials
Generative AI may be exciting, terrifying, democratizing, or polarizing. It is definitely controversial. Whatever it is to you, it is here. Full disclosure, I don't know how I feel about it, but this page will take you through some of my thinking as it relates to IB Film.
Theme-Machine
In my opinion, there is no better place to start a short film than with a clear theme statement. The theme machine won't come up with that statement for your students, but it will help them brainstorm some ideas. This is our latest interactive app. Stay tuned a few more interactive pages are heading your way.
Film Language & Roles
The film roles pages have all been updated to include a list of relevant film vocabulary for students to reference as they're writing about roles as well as some sample filmmaker intentions for each role.
What to Watch: Rental Family (2025)
My students always ask me if watching films feel like work.
This, I think, is the ‘question version’ of the more common refrain “thanks to IB Film, I can't just sit back and enjoy a movie anymore with out analyzing every frame”. For me the truth is that, they're mostly right; I can't. The lucky thing though, is that I love the work.
When I sit down to watch a film I'm not only overanalyzing it through any number of lenses, but I also can't help but think about filmmaker intentions, cultural context, connections within the film text. Maybe its weird, but I really enjoy it.
With that in mind, let me explain why I both love and must recommend Rental Family.
There's a lot about this film to love; the characters, the plot, the warmth, the message. Phillip is an out of work actor and gaijin in Japan. He is called in one day to play a mourner at a funeral. Instead of a film or play, he finds that he is thrown into a different kind of performance; one in which he is hired to play an active role in someone's life.
There's one particular line in the film though, that touches directly on the idea that want and need can be expressed as Plot and Theme. This is when Philip asks for guidance from his boss Shinji about his work at Rental Family. Shinji replies;
“Ask them what they want. Give them what they need.”
This film is a masterclass in visualizing internal conflict through competing wants and needs. Phillip lives a life of solitude and it is clear from the beginning that while he wants to get his big break, what he needs is connection. As he makes this transition he begins to help others do the same.
This is a pretty common theme; but what sets this film apart is how masterfully Hikari lays out these mechanics of storytelling right in front of your eyes; and still makes it deeply personal and engaging.
I think that's more or less why the film really resonated with me; or maybe its because it bares such a striking resemblance to a film my students made a few years prior to this.
I'm not saying the students' film is better… but it was first.
Go Home
That's really it.
Congrats on getting through your latest cohort.
