Pupils at a Hendon school were given the chance to meet a famous film director last week to celebrate the launch of a national after-school film club.

Gurinder Chadha, director of Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, talked to Year 7 students at St Mary's Church of England High School last Thursday about her new film, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

The event, at the school in Downage, marked the launch of Filmclub, a Government-funded programme aimed at encouraging young people to watch and appreciate films.

Explaining why she became a director, Mrs Chadha, who was born in Kenya but raised in London, said: "When I was growing up, I never saw people like me on the screen. I wanted to show that these other communities exist and tell the story of England as I saw it, full of people from all different places and backgrounds."

Mrs Chadha said that humour was important to her because she wanted to give the audience "a really good time", but also stressed that every film had a message. Despite being on her fifth film, she admitted she still got worried about what the critics would say.

"No matter how successful you are, you never know if it's going to be a hit or not," she said.

Piloted in 2007 by film director Beeban Kidron and educationalist Lindsay Mackie, Filmclub provides schools with free films via an interactive website and arranges events and visits from its network of contacts in the film industry.

On the website members can post their own film reviews, enter competitions and find out more about the industry through interviews and live webchats with movie professionals.

More than 1,000 schools have registered an interest in the scheme and 250 have signed up for the summer term.

St Mary's pupil Monique Burton, 12, said she had "really enjoyed" the visit from Mrs Chadha.

"It was really interesting hearing about the sacrifices she had to make to be a director and got me thinking about what you need to do to be that successful," she added.

"Her films are interesting because they don't just show one person from one culture, but show how different cultures communicate."

Year 7 head Kay Lapourides, who organises Filmclub at the school, said the scheme had been a great success since it was introduced six weeks ago.

"About 30 students come along every week, which is really phenomenal. It's a wonderful way of relaxing with the kids at the end of the day and helping the more shy children meet each other in a safe environment."