Coltishall Primary School pupils before enjoying a screening of Frankenweenie, at Odeon, Norwich as part of National Schools Film Week . Photo: Steve Adams

Pupils from Norfolk were encouraged to try new things at a Norwich cinema yesterday as they sat down to watch a screening of a black and white film.

The showing of Frankenweenie, the latest offering from Disney and Tim Burton, was the first of a series of screenings taking part over the next fortnight for National Schools Film Week.

Organised by Film Education, it aims to get more youngsters enjoying the cinema experience and taking their discussions of films back to the classroom to incorporate into their school work.

Yesterday, pupils from Coltishall Primary School and Cromer Junior School made the most of the chance to see the new Tim Burton film which does not go on general release until later this week.

Mary Wisbey, general manager at the Odeon cinema in Norwich, said: “It’s an opportunity for younger children to experience cinema and maybe some films they wouldn’t necessarily have gone to watch.

“Frankenweenie is a Tim Burton film which is black and white. Some of the children, as they went in, were saying ‘I can’t believe we’re going to watch something that’s black and white’. They all came out with massive smiles on their faces. They all absolutely loved it.

“It gave them a broader view and another genre to work with.”

Schools from across Norwich and Norfolk will continue to enjoy the free film screenings over the next two weeks at cinemas in the city and also in Cromer.

Other movies set to be shown include The Hunger Games, Oliver Twist, North By Northwest, and Senna.

Ms Wisbey said: “Cinema and film as an art is incredibly important. Today in society you can get any film within three months and sit at your television and watch it, but sitting in an auditorium with 300 people all gasping, giggling and crying at the same time, feeling that emotion, is fantastic.”