The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at Oxford University is looking for budding film enthusiasts in Years 7-11 and 12-13 to embrace the world of French cinema. To enter the competition, students in each age group are asked to re-write the ending of a film in no more than 1500 words.



You can work in English or French. No additional credit will be given for writing in French, but incorrect French grammatical expression will not be penalised: this is an exercise in creativity, rather than language!



The judges are looking for plausible yet imaginative new endings. There are no restrictions as to the form the entry might take: screen-play, play-script, prose, prose with illustrations... you could even upload a YouTube video or audio file! Experiment!



The films for 2014 are:



Years 7-11: Le Hérisson dir. Mona Achache (2009)

Years 12-13: L'Auberge Espagnole, dir. Cédric Klapisch (2002)



A first prize of £100 will be awarded to the winning student in each age group, with runner-up prizes of £25. The teacher of each winning student will be offered free attendance at the Sir Robert Taylor Society Conference, a forum for continuing professional development and exchange between practitioners of modern foreign languages teaching in secondary and higher education (see http://sirroberttaylor.wordpress.com)



For further details about entering the competition (including the points in each film where we'd like you to take up the story), see the FAQs. Each essay should be accompanied by a cover sheet.



Essays and cover sheets should be submitted by email to french.essay@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk by noon on Monday 31 March 2014.



The French film essay competition is very grateful for the generosity of Routes into Languages and the Sir Robert Taylor Society.