The publication "Europe on screen - cinema and the teaching of history "


Comprised of fact sheets on 50 films, illustrating four of the project's themes - nationalism, women, immigration and human rights, it encourages teachers to exploit cinema as a source of 20th century history and provides a pedagogical basis to do so.

European cinema is a rich and complex source of information on societies and peoples. It can reveal the plight of individuals on the periphery of society, highlight social injustice and give a voice to minority viewpoints. In the case of some of the film-makers in the former Soviet bloc countries, cinema was courageously used to illustrate the alienation and repression of totalitarian societies, once the sensors had been duped, often by a subversive use of humour.

Clearly not all of the films in this study can be obtained throughout the Council of Europe's member states. It is more than likely that in some areas hardly any of these films can be obtained, much less subtitled or even dubbed in the language of the country. But it is our hope that until there is a true pan-European distribution of this continent’s cinematic heritage, teachers will be inspired and guided by this study to strike out on their own and apply it to their national cinema.