From July 1st to 13th, as part of the “Festival du Cinéma du Sud”, 3 movies were screened by various Luxembourgish NGOs, to tell the stories of groups and individuals committed to improving the living conditions of their communities.

Poster of the 2021 “Festival du Cinéma du Sud”

On July 13th at 6pm, in collaboration with the NGOs AEIN, Kindernothilfe and FNEL, Unity Foundation welcomed more than 60 youths and adults in the large hall of the Forum Geesseknäppchen in Luxembourg City for a screening and exchange evening around the Indian movie “Ubuntu”. 

“Ubuntu”, “I exist because we exist”, is a term from the Bantu languages that conveys compassion and humanity. In the film, when the elders insist on closing the village school because of a lack of students, the students and their teacher mobilise to save the school and do everything they can to convince other youth and adults of the value of education… 

The many themes addressed by the film were the subject of a series of questions asked to two guests, Joseph Bertemes and Melanie Noesen, directors of the National School for Adults (ENAD) as well as to the audience.

Discussion with the panelists and the audience on some of the questions raised by the film. From left to right: Joseph Bertemes, Director of ENAD, Melanie Noesen, Co-director of ENAD, Jeff Donckel, Awareness officer at AEIN, Anne Cuvillier, Public discourse and Awareness officer at Unity Foundation.

Drawing parallels between the Indian and Luxembourg contexts, the questions led us to reflect on the place of values in the school system, to imagine how to nurture the desire to learn, and to share educational approaches that we can promote as parents, teachers or young adults to fight against the dangers and negative social influences that hinder the development of children and youth.

Inspired by the experiences of the directors of the ENAD, the questions led youth and adults from the audience to share their personal experiences of education and the Luxembourg school system. They also raised more specific questions such as: What are the causes of the challenges facing education in Luxembourg? What changes need to be made to make the Luxembourg school system more cooperative and inclusive?

Participants share their questions and thoughts.

Many expressed their wish to see more solidarity in Luxembourg schools and to improve the experience of students by promoting a community spirit that could  serve as a fertile ground for teachers’ encouragement and benevolence and for students’ curiosity and desire to learn. 

At the end of the evening, many participants as well as panelists expressed their desire for more such discussion spaces to explore these topics in greater depth.

Participants, NGO members and panelists discussing the topics of the film informally after the end of the event.

These many interventions give us hope for a better future for education and show how civil society is ready to support a change in values that applies to schools as well as to local, regional and national institutions. Unity Foundation is keen to increase the number of people who share this hope and to offer spaces for discussion on education, to promote together a change in practices and mentalities. Contact us if you wish to be part of these!

Thank you to all the participants of the evening, to our wonderful colleagues from AEIN, FNEL and Kindernothilfe and to the Forum Campus Geesseknäppchen for hosting! 

See you in October for the autumn edition of the “Festival du Cinéma du Sud” with Unity Foundation! More information will be posted on our website and social networks. See you soon!