There was a nice atmos-phere at the end of Monday morning?s session at Serge Constantin Theatre. The au-dience had seen Di Drew?s Hildegarde (2002), and smiling, open little faces were coming out from the hall accompanied by adults. As the disciplined crowd was coming out from the magic cave and getting on three private buses, a passer-by would understand that this was not an ordinary session. But one, alas, not so frequent to be unnoticed, as it was designed for schoolboys and girls.

Hildegarde is a saxony duck, the beloved pet of three children who are dealing with the recent death of their father. The film explores a range of serious and sensitive issues such as loss, grief, family relationships, honesty, trust and the illegal export of native birds, within a story that balances drama and humour. In Australia, this production has already been the subject of a study guide, explicitly written for children, Hildegarde: a duck film.

So this could not be an ordinary outing for the young public. Their English teachers, from a Northern college, had also prepared them to study the way animals were sympathetically presented.

Rediscover the magic of the widescreen

We met Oumé and Pushkarini, two CM2 pupils: they liked the story. One can see how the movie took Oumé, especially as she adores animals. ?My heart was beating as I watched those children of my age risk their lives by driving a car to save their duck.? Whereas her friend, who had heartily laughed at the irony and wit of the film, with a very good cast, had found ?awesome? the beautiful setting of Australia.

There were in fact an unden-ding succession of funny situations, not least the duck hunt by the two wicked characters, Wolf (not less than Richard E. Grant) and his poacher colleague. This same is pure pleasure for the cine-lover too, who can see in it a parody of a famous episode in the 1980s cult movie, Withnail and I, where Grant was already playing the leading part. The film goes on with this half-hilarious, half-serious tone, very convincingly kept by the actors.

In Hildegarde, Wolf runs a fake NGO, the Wolf Wildlife Wonders (WWW), which suggests the connivance between those ?pirates? of the real environmental associations who do the good job (as the World Wildlife Foundation) and a black economy, which would have its outlet on the world wide web.

Expose students to the English medium

All these aspects of the movie make it a wonderful discussion subject for all those interested to convert an open day into an opportunity to rediscover the magic of the widescreen and the cinema at his most direct best.

During this Festival, we learnt that Martin Scorcese?s Taxi driver had an enormous influence on Cate Shortland?s will to embark on a filmmaker career. We don?t ignore that the same Martin Scorcese, and his fellow colleague Brian de Palma, as teenagers, had their ?revelation? and decided to become directors as they discovered the legendary Powell/ Pressburger?s rendition of Hans Christian Andersen?s Red shoes.

As says Christine Faugoo, country director of IDP Edu-cation, who has organized, with the Australian High Commission, these children sessions for three years, ?we have had an enormous response from schools.? Time has proved she was well-inspired to propose this activity as a good way to expose students, particularly those who follow the French syllabus, to the English medium. Upcoming fot those willing are the African-American history films presented next week at the IGCIC. Morning sessions will be intended for pupils.

Hopefully such quality events will stimulate children to find later their way on the wonderful path of creativity of film making.