Encouraging respect for intellectual property and education around the importance of copyright underscores our entire offer. Each of these films provides an interesting springboard for discussing these issues with secondary age students.
Cert
Age group14+
Duration115 mins
Riveting biopic of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the legal challenge he's faced with after being accused of stealing the idea.
The power and prominence of social media websites bring with them the need to be extra vigilant about our behaviour online and what we should or shouldn't share. The Social Network examines the complex origins of Facebook and what it means to take credit for other people's work in compelling ways.
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Cert
Age group11–16
Duration101 mins
Eccentric 1950s-set drama telling the true story of a husband who claimed he was the painter of his wife’s artwork.
The idea of passing other people's work off as your own is also central to the plot of Tim Burton's Big Eyes, which tells the true story of Margaret Keane, a hugely popular 20th century painter, who remained largely anonymous - because her husband was claiming credit for the paintings himself.
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Cert
Age group14+
Duration118 mins
Funny yet poignant coming-of-age movie about a teenager touring with his favourite rock band.
Issues around honesty and creativity are also explored in Almost Famous, when Patrick, a teenage writer is unexpectedly commissioned by Rolling Stone magazine to go on the road with his favourite band. The dream turns sour however, when Patrick encounters a band fiercely protective of their image - however distorted - even accusing Patrick of lying in his article.
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration86 mins
Charming documentary following two fans on their quest to discover what really happened to their folk-rock hero, the mysterious Rodriguez.
In the 1970s, the singer Rodriguez was a modestly successful folk musician in the US, but gradually faded into obscurity. Unbeknownst to him however, he had been a superstar in South Africa for several decades, as the brilliant documentary Searching For Sugar Man examines. One of many questions raised is just what happened to all the royalties he accrued there over the years?
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration122 mins
Spectacular modern musical with glittering costumes and amazing dance sequences, using contemporary pop hits.
Music is central to the storytelling of Moulin Rouge. Reinterpreting popular 20th century music and ingeniously interweaving songs into the narrative, the film is a celebration of creativity and expression in all its forms - from dynamic filmmaking techniques, to the tender romantic poetry created by its central protagonist, Christian.
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration98 mins
Outsider-by-choice and keen amateur filmmaker Greg is mortified when his mother forces him to befriend a seriously ill classmate.
Reinterpreting art is also a key idea in the teenage indie comedy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Greg is a keen amateur filmmaker who creates elaborate homages to his favourite art-house films. Already hugely imaginative, as the story develops Greg learns to channel this creativity into something personal, emotive and heart-wrenching.
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Cert
Age group14+
Duration89 mins
Acclaimed, atmospheric exploration of the Italian horror genre through the eyes of an unassuming sound engineer.
Filmmaking of an altogether darker form is examined in British drama Berberian Sound Studio, which is told from the perspective of one of the unsung members of a film crew, the sound engineer. They diligently work on an Italian horror film, creating the most believable but sinister effects possible, before things take an altogether more chilling turn.
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Cert
Age group14+
Duration114 mins
Black comedy about an ageing actor attempting to shake-off the demons associated with his most famous role.
Behind-the-scenes dramas are also the focus of the hugely original and technically audacious Birdman. Michael Keaton plays a semi-forgotten film star, attempting to get his career back on track with a theatrical adaptation of one of Raymond Carver's short stories and shake off the superhero role that has plagued him for years.
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration123 mins
American sci-fi bringing the Japanese film monster to a contemporary setting for a reboot of the franchise.
In 2014, British director Gareth Edwards was entrusted to resurrect one of cinema's most iconic creatures, Godzilla. The film provokes questions around remaking classic stories and characters for new audiences, and is an effective springboard for discussions around scientific endeavour and the ethical considerations associated with progress.
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Cert
Age group11–16
Duration118 mins
Moving biopic of the renowned British scientist Stephen Hawking, from his student days in Cambridge to the present.
Few people have done as much to inspire learning and wonder than Stephen Hawking. The Theory of Everything movingly celebrates the man and his pioneering ideas, revealing how they changed the way we think of the world and the wider universe, but always telling its story (and science) in straightforward, comprehensible terms.
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration89 mins
A visually spectacular and thrilling story of survival in the depths of space where an astronaut is hurtled out of her shuttle.
Hawking would probably approve of how some modern blockbusters use pioneering technology to allow audiences to explore space in new ways. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Gravity, whose extraordinary visuals were the result of painstaking work behind the scenes at British visual effects company, Framestore.
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration142 mins
An agent attempts to use experimental dream-sharing technology to infiltrate a target’s subconscious so that he can be reunited with his children.
Some blockbusters also use their scale to explore complex, often rather abstract ideas in their narratives. With a story driven by themes of stealing and espionage - and ironically becoming one of the most pirated films of all time - Inception is an ideal film to explore notions of artistic creativity as well as scientific thought.
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration141 mins
Superhero sequel which sees Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor teaming up with others to face down an unprecedented threat.
Another massively pirated title is Avengers: Age of Ultron. With Tony Stark at the centre of the narrative, the film is an exciting, spectacular tale of what can happen when science and invention goes wrong'
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Cert
Age group11+
Duration130 mins
Sci-fi action adventure lead by an inquisitive teenage girl and a former boy-genius in a race against time to save our future.
More utopian in its outlook Tomorrowland imagines a futuristic new world without boundaries, fuelled by a love of science and technology, celebrating both the ordinary and extraordinary through Casey, its young teenage protagonist.
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Cert
Age group11–14
Duration94 mins
Bill Shakespeare’s had a go at everything, but to the frustration of his wife Anne he hasn’t found a real job. Will he make his name in London?
Bringing us back down to earth, Bill goes back to the time of William Shakespeare, and his efforts to make a name for himself in London. A brilliantly inventive comedy, our reporters were on hand to capture every step of the filmmaking process, creating a brilliant snapshot for young people of just what it takes to bring a film to the big screen.
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