Marcella
Like all good things, La
Grande Bouffe came to an end too. I do have mixed feelings about it, I’m
feeling satisfied for the great job done in collaboration with Patricia, NIki,
the Belgian staff and the CinemìCinemà staff over the last two and a half years
but I’m sad at the same time ‘cause it’s over!
I personally think it was a
success, we’ve been able to create a link between our two countries which goes
beyond stereotypes and what we can find in school or guide books.
The idea of choosing food
and videos gave us the chance to discover our cultures through these two
languages we can consider universal although different in each country. The
difference of age between our groups of students wasn’t a real obstacle in the
end since living in the same house for 10 days and doing activities together
were the right keys for friendship. It was an experience Italian families and
students won’t easily forget, for some of them it was the first time they had
opened up their family to a stranger who after a few days had magically become
a member of their family. Friendship and overcoming language barriers are the
real core of an international project in fact, two reasons I truly believe in.
I myself have made some friends too!
I know a lot of things could
have been done better, but I like to see it positively and it’s the smile of
our students receiving the prizes during the Award Night Ceremony I will
treasure in my memory! Last but not least many thanks to everyone for their
personal contribution to the project!
Niki
It all started in february 2012 meeting
Marcella, an English teacher in Arezzo. Her moviemaking assistants Mirco and
Michele where “the cherry on top of the cake”. We knew immediately … this
project will work! We discovered Arezzo in the snow and even then it was an
amazing experience.
We’ve worked together during 2 whole years, I
cannot say how many emails we have sent but it was a lot. Even these days we’re
still working together.
The idea that our project La Grande Bouffe is
almost finished makes me sad … when I look back I can see the Italian students in “freezing
cold and snowy Antwerp”, the beautifull city Arezzo, the movie school festival
Cinemi Cinema, our students cooking for each other, dancing together, learning
Italian and Dutch, … I can keep telling
stories, stories that nobody will forget. It was amazing every little step. We
had our ups and downs, but that is part of a project as big as this was.
Our students had an amazing experience meeting
their wonderfull hostfamilies. Learning how to communicate (even non-verbal)
was so hard for them in the beginning but at the end … they didn’t need our
help any longer. When I saw all the tears when we had to say goodbye … I knew …
La Grande Bouffe was a success!
Last
but not least I want to thank everybody who participated in our project, the
teachers of KA Ekeren, teachers of Fossombroni, our proncipals, the Italian
students, the Belgian students, Mirco, Michele, Elena, … and especially
Marcella! Thank you!
