The Cinema Hypothesis - Teaching Cinema in the Classroom and Beyo

This is the first English translation of Alain Bergala´s seminal text on the potentials, possibilities, and problems of bringing film to schools and other educational contexts. Based on the author´s own experiences of writing about and teaching film as well as serving as an adviser to then-Minister of Education Jack Lang, Bergala promotes an understanding of film as an autonomous art form – rather than viewing it as a supplement to other established school subjects. Film, for Bergala, is not something that has to smoothly blend into the school but something that can serve as a productive rupture, for both institution and pupil. Published in collaboration with the British Film Institute, this edition will be complemented by a new introduction on the occasion of its first appearance in English and a conversation with Bergala about the current state of film education on an international scale.