Pupils and staff from five Newcastle schools travelled to London this month to attend the Critical Connections film premiere, which featured a film they had made with North East Solidarity and Teaching (NEST) volunteers from Newcastle University Student Union.
This was part of an international, multilingual digital storytelling project developed by Goldsmiths, University of London. It empowers pupils to explore identity, intercultural understanding, and global citizenship through creative film-making in multiple languages.
In attendance at the event were acclaimed authors Michael Rosen and Michael Vidon – students were able to take part in multilingual poetry workshops and to experience a memorable live performance ahead of the short film screening.
Following an initial pilot with Kenton Bar Primary School in 2025, more schools were engaged in the film making project, brokered by Sarah Edgar (Newcastle City Council, School Effectiveness) and supported by NEST volunteers.
Pupils aged 11-16 years old from Newcastle schools Sacred Heart, Jesmond Park Academy, Benfield School, Walker Riverside Academy and Kenton School worked on a collaborative project called The Tail of the Chef.
Their film was made in Kurdish, Arabic, Tigrinya and English and was screened alongside others made by children from Taiwan, Australia, Zimbabwe, India, Italy and other parts of the UK.
Kenton Bar Primary’s film, Recycle Woman, made in 2025, was also screened as part of the Film Festival.
This has been a really fantastic opportunity for our students to be involved with. As a School of Sanctuary, we want to ensure students’ home languages are celebrated and showcased.
Collaborating with other schools on the common theme of diversity and multilingualism has opened the door to JPA students’ creativity and originality, through the medium of film. My thanks go to NEST for organising their participation in the filmmaking and the trip to London.
Mr Lovatt, EAL practitioner at Jesmond Park Academy
We have been working with our partners at Goldsmiths for a number of years and were delighted to involve more schools in this creative, multilingual project, in collaboration with NEST volunteers from Newcastle University.
Taking part has both widened opportunities for children and young people to enrich their learning as part of this global project, as well as enabling them to have exciting day in London, celebrating their creativity and participating in inspirational workshops.
We intend to continue our collaboration with Goldsmiths to enable more children and young people to benefit in future.
Sarah Edgar, Education Consultant, Newcastle City Council (School Effectiveness)
Critical Connections have produced a booklet with all the films created by pupils. Click here to download the booklet
The young filmmakers explored the theme of a ‘Journey or Quest’ in inventive, critical, and speculative ways.
These films tell insightful multilingual stories about journeys or quests, and capture how children and young people are finding ways to seek novel paths and routes, form strong friendships, and look for peaceful resolutions.
The film festival was a joyful celebration to share the stories these young filmmakers have created about their cultures, histories, and global connections.
There are 22 languages included across the 19 digital stories exhibited at the film festival. Lead educators have worked with young participants (4 – 18 years old) across 21 educational institutions (kindergarten, primary, secondary, community-based complementary, library) and 7 countries (Australia, India, Italy, Taiwan, UK, USA, Zimbabwe).
Further information and links
- Critical Connections Film Festival – ‘Care, Community and Hope’ on 13 June 2025: Click here for details
- Critical Connections Film Festival – ‘Quest or Journey’ in June 2026: Click here for details
- Click here to visit the Multilingual Digital Storytelling website
- Click here to follow the Multilingual Digital Storytelling project on facebook
- Click here to see the Critical Connections Blog
- Resource links: Click here for the Critical Connections Handbook for Teachers on making digital stories
- Click here to find out about online workshops for Critical Connections