L6 and U6 pupils taking Spanish enjoyed an intensive day of workshops at the British Film Institute this week. The documentary The Silence of Others considers how Spain is coming to terms with its past after the Civil War and dictatorship, a key element of the A Level course.
We watched the whole documentary in the morning on the UK’s largest cinema screen at the IMAX, then spent the afternoon discussing the tension between moving on from the past, and bringing state-sponsored criminals from those times to justice.
The whole day was led in Spanish by two university professors, and included a Zoom call to Madrid, where pupils were able to put questions live to someone who took part in the documentary.
As Mr Latimer put it, we needed a bit of a lift after that subject matter, so we took a flight on the London Eye before some retail therapy in Covent Garden, a cycle tour of Oxford Circus, and a significant quantity of Italian food in a basement restaurant in Soho.
It was our first time at such an event, and both the BFI student event coordinator and the presenter from Royal Holloway were impressed by Exeter School pupils, so we definitely intend to return.
