Bringing the world into the classroom: A teacher’s mission to broaden the horizons of rural students through film

Sbeitla, formerly known as Sufetula, is a town in north central Tunisia (in the governorate of Kasserine) and home to captivating roman ruins which date back to the 1^st century AD.  About 15 kilometers from Sbeitla is Hassi Lefrid, a district divided into small clans where school is a far way from home for many students.

24-year-old Amine Belkadhi is a primary school teacher at Bir Hamouda School. Through the lense of his camera, Belkadhi documents his experience as a young teacher striving to act as a role model for his students.

“What makes me love my job are the kids I teach because they have little to no idea about the outside world,” says Belkadhi with conviction. Belkadhi’s approach is to bring the world into the classroom through film.

Hassi Lefrid is one of Tunisia’s poorest rural areas. The livelihood of its residents is agricultural work. In regions like this, literacy rates are below average due to the lack of educational resources and distance that students must travel to attend school.

Belkadhi, who is also an aspiring film producer with a Masters in cinema studies, explains that “students come very late to class. When I ask them why, they always say that their school is far away from home with little to no available transportation—and that in fact this did not stop them from coming.”

Belkadhi’s eyes light up as he comes to the topic of film. “I produced a movie called “Mon école est très loin” [My school is very far away]. The kids really liked it, they felt like actors, their laughter and pride made them realize that they are the actors in their lives,” the young teacher recounts with passion.

The region’s lack of transport and slow pace of life make it difficult for children to pursue an education. Their vision of life is confined to the limits of Hassi Lefrid.

So Belkadhi decided to come up with a way to open their eyes to what lies beyond the fences of their school. “I decided to start a cinema club at school!” Having culminated his undergraduate studies with a project on “Integrating Cinema in Primary Schools,” Belkadhi is eager to apply his knowledge to real life.

“This club is going to be open to all grades. We are going to analyze movies, do workshops relating to cinema, experiment with drawing movie posters and even making film shorts together!” he says enthusiastically.

“Mon école est très loin” ends with a proposed solution to the students’ lack of transportation: the provision of a school bus to help them save time and arrive early to school. Nevertheless, Belkadhi lets on that “that ending cannot happen overnight. It takes time.” Then, standing tall and with his arms wide open as if about to embark on some kind of adventure, the young man adds:

However, we can expand the horizons of students to think big, create, and aspire… This will eventually make them believe in themselves and build their potential.