CIFF Student Classics Film Series: Scrooge

All ages are welcome at this screening. 

The Coronado Island Film Festival (CIFF) Student Classic Film Series presents a special “Welcome to the Holiday Season” family movie event, Scrooge.

We all know how Dickens’ story begins: a hard-hearted, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge shows nothing but contempt for the people around him. The tale is so deeply embedded in our culture that it’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t know this infamous curmudgeon whose life is utterly transformed by the visitations of Jacob Marley and the 3 ghostly spirits Marley sends redeem him.

More than two dozen major motion pictures of A Christmas Carol have been made in the last hundred years. It is one of the most adapted pieces of literary fiction in the history of theater, radio, film and television.

Irish Director Brian Desmond Hurst's Scrooge is regarded by most critics as the movie that best captures the spirit of Dickens’ timeless novella. His use of light and shadow sets the moods for a tour-de-force portrayal of Scrooge by Alastair Sim. Sim “inhabits” the role  with a deft hand, playing the miserly scenes with just the right amount of cynical humbug. Without the subtlety and restraint He brings to the character, Scrooge’s joyful redemption in the final act wouldn’t be as believable, as moving, or as memorable. The final scenes of Scrooge radiating warmth and heartfelt delight as Tiny Tim leaps into his arms are images to carry with you throughout the Holiday Season.   

The screening will be followed by the first public announcement of the 2026 Student Classic Film Series Slate of films exploring “The Art of Adaptation.”

The film will be introduced by Program Director Jon Mosier, who will also lead an after-film discussion. 

The Coronado Island Film Festival's Student Classic Film Study Program is open to any upper-middle and high school students attending public, charter, or parochial schools, as well as those who are homeschooled. All students are welcome to attend and join the post-screening moderated discussion. 

Two purposes will guide the program: 

1) To develop in young people the discernment necessary to understand dramatic film narratives. Because movies employ so many senses, classic films are among the most powerful genres of visual storytelling. The program will introduce young people to classic movies made by recognized masters of the film medium. 

2) To challenge young people to analyze dramatic film narratives and hone critical-thinking skills. Every dramatic narrative is, in its essence, a story of redemption. Great stories incorporate an introduction, a protagonist, an antagonist, and some form of conflict. Great stories conclude when these conflicts are resolved. This general narrative model is followed, in various forms, in nearly every classic film made during Hollywood’s Golden Age.  

EDUCATIONAL GUIDES/EXPANDED STUDY

A special program will be made available for homeschoolers or independent study students to document program completion as a drama and/or film appreciation elective. 

The discussion guides are drawn from Dr. Onalee McGraw, founder of the Educational Guidance Institute (EGI) and a former educator. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies, and her classic film study guides have been used successfully with audiences of young people around the nation from widely diverse demographic backgrounds and cultural experiences.  

If you would like more information on bringing a group or class and utilize the guided curriculum please contact Jon Mosier for more information:  Classicstudy@coronadofilm.com .

This launch of the program was made possible with seed funding from a City of Coronado community grant.

About Jon Mosier, Program Director: Jon is a longtime devotee of classic Hollywood films. He developed the Student Classics Film Program as a fellowship Capstone Project in collaboration with Dr. Onalee McGraw at the Educational Guidance Institute. As Jon puts it, “The program is purposefully designed to engage the hearts and minds of young people, enrich their cultural literacy and strengthen their understanding of film as art.“