Informal education activities for families

Introducing the film

As families will probably come to the screening with no prior knowledge of the film, it is important to make the film easily accessible without overloading the audience with information.

Explain that the film is based on a West African folk tale, and establish the key elements of these. See Kirikou and the Sorceress as a 'folktale'. Introduce the main characters.

Ask the audience what they think it will look like it's an animation, inspired by the landscape of West Africa and by the artistic heritage of Egyptian art for the characters, Henri Rousseau for the plants and flowers, and traditional African art for the Sorceress's servants. What colours and settings might we expect to see?

Give a couple of suggestions of things to look out for, such as the question which Kirikou always asks, or why the village children won't play with him.

Refer also to Suggestions for questions

Invite the audience to stay and discuss the film straight after the screening.

After the film

Refer to the questions asked before the screening (characters, storyline, animation, West African setting). Divide the audience up and encourage some discussion before feeding back.

Ask children to talk about what happened in the story and what might have happened before and after we joined each story. Did it remind them of any other films, eg other fairy tales, like Little Red Riding Hood, or other animated films set in Africa, like The Prince of Egypt, Tarzan, The Lion King.What did they have in common, what was different?

A simple sheet for children could be given out as they leave or used as a workshop activity. It could include images from the film and drawing activities for later, eg:

• Draw your favourite character;
• Draw the village, Karaba's hut or the termite mound in which the Wise Man of the Mountain sat.
• On a blank six-shot storyboard, draw the story in six parts, draw a single scene or draw a folktale of your own.

Further workshop activities

If there are opportunities for workshop activities before of after the film these could include the following, or be presented as an activity sheet for children to take home.

Animation

• Working in groups, create an animated film using drawn or collage figures based on Rousseau on backgrounds. Hire in the staff/equipment from a local animation workshop, or use a TV as a monitor, a tripod and a camcorder with a stop-frame/frame record facility. A storyline could be the journey of a character through a range of settings where he/she meets different characters until achieving a goal.
• Make flick books to explore the process of animation.

Design

• Choose one part of the story (taken from the Story outline) and draw what happens on a storyboard.
• Draw a favourite character and give it a 'character profile'. Where does it live? Who and what does it like/not like?
• Design a board game based on the story an obstacle course with a goal to save the village, and the Sorceress! Include fetishes, rocks, plants, secret passages and animals in forest, savannah and caves.

Drama

Choose a part of the story and re-enact it in a group with around 20 children the whole film could be covered! Children could write their own scripts, or improvise. Children could keep to the ending in the film, or choose their own endings based on their understandings of the characters.