Into Film Clubs
Find out everything you need to know about starting an Into Film Club.
The Into Film+ catalogue is growing! Seven new titles have been added to the streaming service, carefully selected by our expert film curators to entertain and delight young minds, while also boosting their learning and broadening horizons. These films are all accompanied by discussion guides specifically written to generate further engagement with relevant subjects and topics.
The new batch of films includes adventures through across the oceans with mermaids and pirates; visits to alternative realities bursting with music and colour with Marvel comic book heroes and Grimm fairy tale characters; edge-of-your-seat drama with the "Master of Suspense" and historical military operations; and a teenager's jolly jaunt around Chicago that became an iconic moment in the history of cinema.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
This much-anticipated sequel to the blockbuster Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (also available to stream on Into Film+) once again showcases a rich multitude of animation and illustration styles within the comic book canon. Miles Morales is trying his best to settle into his new life as a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man but when a strange entity known as The Spot shows up, it sets off a chain of events that sees Miles not only reuniting with his multi-verse crush Spider-Gwen, but also encountering a world where a seemingly infinite number of Spider-People exist. But these heroes harbour an unforgiving secret that threatens everything precious to him.
The accompanying film guide is designed to engage learners aged 11-14 and supports subjects including Media Studies and Art & Design, in addition to highlighting themes surrounding family and friendship, graphic novels and comic books, and storytelling.
The Little Mermaid
A desire to explore is an intrinsic part of growing up, but is the grass - or seaweed - always greener on the other side? Ariel is a young mermaid who dreams of life above water. She dares to venture above the surface of the sea and one day she saves a human, Prince Eric, from a shipwreck and falls in love with him. Longing to join him on land, she unwisely strikes a deal with the banished sea witch Ursula - but there's a catch: she must give up her voice. This delightful musical tale is available with Audio Description and sing-along lyrics to its classic songs including 'Under the Sea'.
The accompanying film guide is designed to engage learners aged 5-7 and supports subjects including Music and Science in addition to highlighting themes surrounding folk and fairy tales, magic, aquatic life, growing up, and friendships.
Into the Woods
This adaptation of a musical stage play pays tribute to the gruesomeness of the original Brothers Grimm tales, while also subverting stereotypes and rewriting age-old narratives. A baker and his wife are unable to have children because of a spell that has been cast upon them. A witch tells them she can break this enchantment if they bring her: a cow as white as milk; a cape as red as blood; hair as yellow as corn; and a slipper as pure as gold. In a whirlwind of song and gothic fantasy, they venture into the woods to find them stumbling across some familiar storybook characters.
The accompanying film guide is designed to engage learners aged 11-14 and supports subjects including Music, Performing Arts, and English, in addition to highlighting topics surrounding folk and fairy tales, literature and adaptations, storytelling and family.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Hans Zimmer composed the now iconic main theme of this roller-coaster ride of a film, which serves as a case study in the component on music for stage and screen of the GCSE Music Edexcel syllabus. The film follows Elizabeth, the daughter of an 18th century oversees Governor, who as a child helps rescue a boy called Will after a ship burns down and finds on him a strange medallion. Years later, Will is secretly in love with Elizabeth, so when pirates descend on their port town and capture her, he sets out to the rescue. Assistance comes in the unlikely form of famed trickster Captain Jack Sparrow, but will their swordfighting skills be enough faced with the pirate ship's terrible curse?
The accompanying film guide is designed to engage learners aged 11-14 and supports subjects including PSHE Education and English in addition to highlighting themes of fantasy, physical comedy, character perceptions, adventure, bravery and prejudice.
The Hurt Locker
This independently produced film is one of the set titles for study to choose from in the Key Developments in US Film component of the WJEC GCSE Film Studies syllabus (discover all the set texts from this syllabus available on Into Film+ here). This brilliantly tense action-drama conveys what it's like to be in a warzone, following a squad of American bomb specialists in Iraq as they try to defuse IEDs (improvised explosive devices), otherwise known as roadside bombs. This dangerous task is made all the more tense by the difficult relationship between the ultra-professional Sergeant Sanborn and Sergeant James, who relies completely on his instincts.
The accompanying film guide is designed to engage learners aged 14-16 and supports subject including Film Studies, in addition to highlighting themes of modern warfare, ethics, mental health and historical periods.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Also featured on the WJEC GCSE Film Studies syllabus for a comparative study with Rebel Without a Cause (available to watch on Into Film+), this film is just as brazen in its narrative techniques as its protagonists is in his disregard for authority. Ferris Bueller is a cheeky yet lovable student that bunks off school to spend a fantastic day roaming about Chicago with his best friend Cameron and girlfriend Sloane. However, his jealous sister Jeannie and the school principal are far from impressed, and each set out to try and catch Ferris in his mischief. As the three teenagers explore the city, Ferris must stay one step ahead of his pursuers.
The accompanying film guide is designed to engage learners aged 14-16 and supports subjects including as Film Studies, in addition to highlighting topics including friendship, community, film history and growing up.
Rope
Moving Image Arts students following the CCEA GCE syllabus will find this title highly relevant to the component on Alfred Hitchcock's Narrative Rules of Suspense. Brandon and Philip are wealthy New Yorkers who believe themselves to be intellectually superior to most people. To prove their genius, they attempt to commit the "perfect crime", murdering a "friend" called David and hiding his body in a trunk in their apartment. They then hold a dinner party, inviting David's father and fiancée, as well as their former teacher, whose philosophy inspired the killers' belief that they are above morality, but whose powers of deduction may yet uncover their shocking secret.
The accompanying film guide is most engaging for learners aged 16+ and supports subjects such as Film Studies in addition to highlighting themes surrounding directors, LGBTQ+ representation, and crime and punishment.
How Do I Get Started?
To access Into Film+, all you'll need is an Into Film Account - it's completely free, and only takes a moment to set up. Into Film+ is free to use for all UK state schools that hold a valid Public Video Screening (PVS) Licence from Filmbankmedia.
Filmbankmedia PVS Licences are paid for on behalf of schools by all local authorities in England and by some local authorities in both Wales and Scotland. Into Film NI cover the license cost for some schools in Northern Ireland. For further information on licensing in your locality please see our FAQs.
If you don't have a PVS Licence, or aren't already covered, then a licence can easily be obtained from Filmbankmedia.
* Screenings for an entertainment or extra-curricular purpose require a PVS (Public Video Screening) Licence from Filmbankmedia. State-funded schools in England are covered by the PVS Licence.
Into Film and the Into Film+ streaming service is supported by the UK film industry through Cinema First and the BFI through National Lottery Funding, thanks to National Lottery players. Since the very first National Lottery draw in 1994, public support - raised directly through National Lottery ticket sales - has funded more than 670,000 projects, raising more than £46 billion for good causes.
