Primary education

Watching films together sparks curiosity and opens up new worlds. At Natlab, pupils across all primary school year groups discover how images tell stories. Through watching, discussing and experimenting, they develop visual literacy and media literacy.

A cinema visit with your class

Visit Natlab with your class for a film screening at €7 per child. Together, we choose a film that suits the pupils’ age and a topic you’re exploring in the classroom. From book adaptations to documentaries and short films, including selections from Eye and IDFA programmes.

An introduction, a discussion after the screening or accompanying teaching materials can help you explore the film further, both at Natlab and at school.

Exploring the film further

An introduction or discussion after the screening helps pupils discover more about the film and the filmmaker’s choices. There is room for questions, wonder and their own perspectives on the story. Use the accompanying teaching materials to prepare your class for their visit or explore their responses to the film afterwards.

IDFA

A selection of the most beautiful titles of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)! Students can enjoy youth documentaries about strong, ordinary and special children, who give the audience a candid insight into their lives. The selection is made in consultation with teachers. Teaching material is available with each film that provides context and in-depth information. Watching documentaries broadens the students' perspective, teaches them to think critically about what they see and helps them form their opinion.

Would you like to visit an IDFA performance at Natlab with your school? You can read everything you need to know on the IDFA website.

SHORT FILM POULE

In collaboration with the Eye film museum, we offer various educational film programmes. These consist of short films, ranging from live action to animation. They all depict a specific theme from a different perspective, in a different forms and for different purposes. This way we create the ideal basis for a dialogue with the students. There is something there for everyone.

These are the various different programmes:

WORKSHOPS

Combine a film visit with a workshop! By performing the steps of the creative process themselves, pupils gain insight into what precedes the making of a long feature film. They learn about the origin of film, how the first film was made and how you can make a film yourself.

Animation workshop
Learn the art of stop motion: moving, sliding and rotating a character brings him or her to life in a movie! The theme of the workshop can be linked to a film that we watch prior to the workshop or to a topic of your choice, for example the theme that is currently being treaded in your class.

Green screen workshop
Complete all steps of film making in a short period of time. Pupils write a script, act, film and edit. They learn how to create special effects, make elements appear or disappear with the help of a green screen and make the viewer believe that they are in another world. Transform from a Wild West cowboy to a mermaid in the ocean.

Back in time
The possibilities of image and film seem endless these days: special effects, 3D and even 4D screenings. Do children who grow up with this also know what the first films looked like and how they were made? Learn about the history of film during an interactive introduction and discover earlier film techniques by getting started with a zootrope, thaumatrope and folioscope.