Abu Adnan/Adnan's Father

Adnan's Father, 2017 tells the story of Sayid, a refugee doctor from Syria, he has just received a Danish residence permit, and is about to embark on establishing a new life in rural Denmark together with his son Adnan. At the same time as having to learn a new language, he faces the challenge of maintaining his boy’s respect, in a situation where Adnan’s adaptation seems to be going somewhat faster than his own.

This film was an Oscar nominated short in 2019 and winner at Indy Shorts, Heartland, IN, USA, Nordic international film festival, NYC, USA. and nominated for best Danish short in 2018. The film has been screened at over 40 festivals around the world.

Directed by Sylvia Le Fanu. 24 mins.

THEMES:
Conflict Matters, Other in My Classroom

TOPICS/ISSUES:
Migration, Refugees, Conflict, The Other, Equality, Relationships

NI CURRICULUM LINKS:
LLW - Citizenship & Personal Development, Geography, Language & Literacy: English with Media Education, UICT/ICT, Thinking Skills & Personal Capabilities.

The suggested activities in the Nerve Centre Lesson Plan below can easily be used to support cross-curricular/connected learning at Key Stage 3. You may choose to deliver all the activities within one department or work cross-departmentally to deliver particular activities.

MOVING IMAGE ARTS

The following Nerve Centre presentations with embedded clips and suggested practical activities can be found below:
1. Exploring Realism in Adnan's Father
2. Conveying Isolation & Alienation (Camera, Cinematography & Mise-en-Scene)

The Portuguese presentations below provide in-depth analysis of the film.

A recorded interview with director Sylvia Le Fanu, is available in the Masterclasses section of this website. Sylvia discusses in detail each stage of Abu Adnan/Adnan's Father's film production.

Sylvia has also kindly shared her script, shot list and visual mood boards for her short film. These can be found in the worksheet section of this website.

Lesson Plans

KS3 Lesson Plan One (Nerve Centre)

The lesson plan will develop students understanding of the journeys refugees are forced to make and the struggles they face when navigating new lives in new countries.

There are 3 suggested activities: 1. Watch the film and consider the feelings of Adan's father. 2. Explore key terms and research other refugee stories. 3. Plan and create a short film/digital story.

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KS3 Lesson Plan One Presentation (Nerve Centre)

This presentation can be used as a teaching resource to accompany KS3 Lesson Plan One (Nerve Centre) above.

Follow this link to view the presentation.

Follow this link for an editable copy of the presentation (Google Slides)

Lesson Plan Two (Poland)

Students in class will analyse and interpret the film Adnan’s Father with regard to different protagonists’ perspectives on the problem resulting from their values, experiences, needs and film perspective.

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Lesson Plan Three (Czech)

The lesson aims to build a positive attitudes towards others and not to be indifferent to a person in a difficult situation.

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A short film review of Adnan's Father/Abu Adnan"

MIA - Exploring Realism in Adnan's Father (Nerve Centre)

This presentation explores the realist techniques used in Adnan's Father.

Follow this link to view the presentation.

Follow this link for an editable copy of the presentation (Google Slides)

MIA - Conveying Isolation & Alienation (Nerve Centre)

This MIA presentation with embedded clips and suggested practical activities explores how camera, cinematography and mise-en-scene have been used to convey the sense of isolation and alienation of the main character Sayid (Adnan's father). It also includes a clip from the recorded interview with director Sylvia Le Fanu talking about her compositional choices.

Follow this link to view the presentation.

Follow this link for an editable copy of the presentation (Google Slides)

MIA Sequence Analysis Powerpoint (Portugal OFDL)

Support Powerpoint for MIA written by our Portuguese partners and translated into English.

Film Analysis:
1. Frame Analysis
2. Analysis of a sequence

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MIA Material - Film Analysis Presentation (Portugal OFDL)

Support Presentation for MIA written by our Portuguese partners and translated into English. Film analysis exploring:
1. The Places of Adnan’s Father
2. The Past and the Present
3. Moving Figures
4. Doorways to the Past
5. The Symbolic Functions of Objects

Follow this link to view the presentation

Follow this link for an editable copy of the presentation (Google Slides)

Work Sheets

KS3 Worksheets One (Nerve Centre)

The worksheets support students critical thinking about the film. The students will explore and identify key moments in the story and focus on how the character of Sayid's actions and emotions have been conveyed to the audience. It also provides frameworks for group discussion, personal research and planning for a film/digital story exploring refugee stories (a "how to" support video can be found below).