Zoom School Screenings

Each year the Wexner Center presents Zoom, a family-friendly international film festival where young people can catch a glimpse of youth perspectives from all over the globe through movies not available at most theaters. School groups are invited to special school-day screenings of select films from the festival. This year’s screenings will include Giraffada (2013), for grades 5–8, about a young Palestinian boy and his veterinarian father who make an incredible journey to transport a giraffe from Israel to the West Bank’s Qalqilya Zoo. Also showing is China’s I Swan (2012), for grades 3–8, which follows a young girl named Holly who nurses and protects a wounded swan called Snowy in order to cope with the death of her mother.

School groups attending films receive learning materials that help students and teachers explore topics from the films and find out more about the countries from where the films originate. We also offer discussions with Wexner Center educators after some films. Bus subsidies are available.

Giraffada
(Rani Massalha, 2013, France/Germany/Italy/Palestine)
Ziad, a ten-year-old boy living in the West Bank, is so enamored of the two giraffes at the Qalquilya Zoo that he can communicate with them. Ziad enjoys helping his recently widowed father, Yacine, a veterinarian who works hard to protect the zoo as a haven for animals and for the local children who play and learn there. When one of Ziad’s beloved giraffes is lost in an airstrike, Yacine is determined to bring a new mate from the Safari Ramat Gan park in Israel. Inspired by a true story, Giraffada beautifully illustrates the bond that can grow between animals and children while raising important questions about social justice and the tragic toll of political conflict. Animal death (unseen), romantic relationship between adults, consumption of alcohol, political unrest, shelling, and the effects of an airstrike. In English, Arabic, and Hebrew with English subtitles read aloud. (85 mins., DCP)

I Swan
(Kong Sheng, 2012, China)
Following the death of her mother, young Holly is unable to speak. Hoping that she will recover when reunited with her father, Holly’s grandparents arrange for her to join him at the wind farm where he works. While exploring the outdoors, she encounters a wounded swan that she names Snowy. With her dad’s support she begins to nurse it back to health, regaining her voice along the way. However, Holly soon discovers that due to widespread trafficking, swans have been declared protected animals in China and it is illegal to care for them in private homes. As she tries to keep Snowy safe until he is well enough to join his friends for the annual migration, their unlikely friendship becomes of journey of healing and perseverance…with a little crime-fighting along the way! Discussion of parental death, limited strong language, smoking, limited depiction of punching and kicking. In Mandarin with English subtitles read aloud. (98 mins., DCP)