Keynote: Frameworks and approaches to teaching about film

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Film Literacy Lab: How to teach about film? / January 15, 2016 / Prague Speakers‘ profiles

Ian Wall / film education expert TheFilmSpace.net

Keynote: Frameworks and approaches to teaching about film

The presentation will be based on the Framework for Film Education (Creative Europe/BFI. 2015) and will look at a variety of issues around film education as well as the specific challenges which are faced by introducing documentary films to young people.

Educated at the University of York where he studied English and Related Literatures, Ian went on to teach at Holland Park School in London. In 1986 he founded FILM EDUCATION, producing printed study materials, developing interactive CD ROMS, running In Service training for teachers, and producing television programmes for the BBC Learning Zone and Channel 4. Since 1995 working with the Film Education TV team, Ian developed over 50 television documentary programmes, both as producer and scriptwriter. Ian has won two BAFTA’s (children’s interactive learning) as well as a ‘Learning on Screen’ award, all for interactive teaching resources. Ian speaks on issues relating to education, media literacy and film all over the world.

Doclisboa

Case study: Teaching with and for cinema at Doclisboa

The potential of documentary film as an educational tool is not limited to its cinematic cultural use, nor to the themes it addresses. Knowing how to watch a documentary film and to interpret it calls for different modes of reception. How can film be used in the classroom as a pedagogical resource, recognizing the value of its artistic language, and going beyond the main theme it addresses?

Amarante Abramovici / Doclisboa / Head of Education Service

Amarante is a filmmaker, artist and has been working in collaboration with several cultural institutions (from music, dance and fine arts fields). She has collaborated with Museu de Serralves (2005-2010) on the production of several videos for exhibitions, as well as on the production and programming of several retrospectives and film showcases. Since 2004, she is responsible for film workshops for children. She teaches Cinema and Video in several courses at Porto University. Amarante is now developing her doctoral thesis on political cinema in Portugal during the 1970s, with a focus on amateur film.

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Cláudia Alves / Doclisboa / educator, filmmaker

Cláudia is a visual artist and filmmaker interested in engaging in creative documentary and video content in an independent art environment. She graduated in documentary filmmaking from the International Film School of San Antonio de Los Baños (EICTV, Cuba), founded by Gabriel García Marquez and other significant Latin-American intellectuals. Earlier she did her graduation from the Fine Arts Faculty of Lisbon and has also studied at the Fine Arts Academy of Brera, Milan. Cláudia worked on several short and medium-length films as director and cinematographer in Portugal, Brazil and Cuba. Her documentaries have been broadcasted on Portuguese Television and screened at numerous international film festivals. ‘Compact and Revolutionary‘ which conceptualizes the contradictions and disappointments of the situation in Cuba was recognized with many international awards. “Tales on Blindness” (2014) is her first feature-length documentary on the context of the Portuguese presence in India.

DOK Leipzig

Case study: „Learn to See – See to Learn“

Various methods of documentary film education for kids, teenagers and young adults used at DOK Leipzig. The aim of DOK Leipzig is to cultivate the school children’s sense for documentary film and the filmic language. To reach this aim, easy accessible forms of documentary film analysis are used in order to establish a film discussion not only about the content and the topic but also about the filmic language. DOK Education tries to let the young audience make their own discoveries – and let them surprise us with their new, fresh views on our films. Luc-Carolin Ziemann / DOK Leipzig / Head of DOK Education

Studied cultural studies, media and communication sciences and politics in Leipzig and Hamburg with a special focus on documentary film and video culture. She has worked for several film festivals as curator and programmer (Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Filmfest Dresden, Werkleitz Festival, DOK Leipzig, F-Stop Festival) and had teaching assignments at several universities. Since 2009 she built up the DOK Education department at DOK Leipzig. She also works as curator, author and journalist and holds an M.A. in ”Cultures of the Curatorial“ from the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig.

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Visions du Réel

Case study: Teachers‘ preparation workshop and teaching materials The festival's educational programme is both theoretically and practically oriented, developing initiatives of active and creative involvement of young people through filmmaking, blogging and awarding films with the special student jury award. Philippe Clivaz will give an overall insight into all these formats organized throughout the year. Christian Georges, educational expert and author of lesson plans for the national film and media literacy initiative e-media.ch, will focus on the preparation workshop for teachers ahead of the festival: screenings and after-film discussions; documentary approach; introduction to teaching material, including an example with clips from the film "Eugene Gabana, le pétrolier". The official school program in western Switzerland underlines that all pupils should be able to describe the filmmaker's intentions after watching a documentary or a fiction film. Philippe Clivaz / Visions du Réel / Secretary General

Philippe Clivaz has been a Secretary-General of Visions du Réel in Nyon since September 2010. In the past, he worked as a director of the Base-Court Association in Lausanne (2000-2010). He was a supervisor of the Geneva Select Market and the short films department of the Cinéma Tous Ecrans festival in Geneva (2006-2010) and a member of the Programming Committee of short films at the Locarno International Film Festival (2004-2010). He worked as an expert on short films at the Federal Office of Culture (2006-2009). Philippe graduated in Cultural Management from the University of Lausanne (2010) and has worked in film since 1992 (national and international festivals, management and programming of a cinema, distribution, production) with a specialisation in short films since 1996. He also serves as a deputy (legislative) of the Department of Vaud (Capital City Lausanne).

Christian Georges / e-media / film and media education expert

Graduated from the Department of Political Science and Journalism in 1998 (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland). Between 1987 and 2000 he worked as a journalist and film critic, he was also a reviewer for the Locarno Film Festival daily newspaper (1990-1992). Since 2002 he has been working as a scientific collaborator at the Conférence intercantonale de l’instruction publique de la Suisse romande et du Tessin (CIIP), he serves as the head of the Media Literacy unit. Since 1984 he has run the Media Literacy Week in French speaking Swiss schools. He is an editor of the www.e-media.ch website (aimed at Swiss teachers). He is also a coordinator of several media literacy initiatives, in partnership with film festivals, the Swiss Cinemathéque and the Swiss public broadcast service (Radio Télévision Suisse).

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FID Marseille

Case study: Teenagers Jury Program at FID Marseille and teaching about film at high schools

Organized for the first time in 2015 in partnership with the Ministry of Education, FID Marseille opened a call for students wishing to be part of the special Student Jury, addressing high schools in the region. Out of 50 applications 10 were selected. The jury members have seen a selection of 12 films in the French, international and first film competition, have met the directors and finally awarded one Best Film and one Special Mention prize. During the festival, the jury have also met members of the selection committee to exchange about the festival in general, the films, programming etc. The vacation period when FID takes place is a good time for young people to focus on their task.

Anaelle Bourguignon / FID Marseille / Secretary General

Anaelle Bourguignon is secretary general of FIDMarseille, International Film Festival of Marseille since 2009. She is in charge of the general administration and coordination of the festival as well as the development of new projects and pedagogical activities. Born in 1980, she studied management at ESCP Europe (Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris). From 2004 to 2006, she worked as audiovisual attaché at the French Consulate in Toronto, Canada before joining Europe Cinemas, the international cinema network for the circulation of European films, as the coordinator of the MEDIA cinema programme until 2009.

Céline Guénot / FID Marseille / programmer, educator

Céline Guénot studied history and film in Paris, Lyon, and London. After graduating from the French film school La Fémis in 2010, she moved to Marseille and started working for FID Marseille as an editor for the festival daily and then a programmer. She has lectured at King's College London, Science Po Paris, as well as American and French high schools and helped setting up the Youth Jury programme for FID Marseille. She is now teaching history of arts and film at an international high school in Aix-en-Provence while working on a documentary project about the American education system.

Jihlava IDFF

Case study: Education at the Centre for Documentary Film – focus on ”Sound and Music in Film“

The Centre for Documentary Film is preparing a series of thematically linked lectures and screenings for high school students, seniors and the general public. The goal of these educational cycles is to use the unique character of creative documentary film, and film in general, to question key historical and exclusive contemporary topics, thereby developing critical thinking, enhancing knowledge

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and providing a better understanding of today’s world saturated by audiovisual media. Lively discussions with respected experts and professionals, ranging from filmmakers to theorists and educators, provide a space to contemplate different points of view and to enable one to make up his own mind on the issue. Screenings of important international and domestic films will be followed by a discussion and deepen the understanding not only of media trends, styles or genera of contemporary documentary film and the art of film but also of the problems the world faces today.

Šimon Bauer / Jihlava IDFF / Head of Centre for Documentary Film

Šimon Bauer graduated from Masaryk University in Brno in Theory and History of Film and Audiovisual Culture and is currently a postgraduate student at Masaryk University. Since 2004, he has worked at Mezipatra Queer Film Festival and Brno 16 International Short Film Festival. Since 2010, he has worked at Jihlava IDFF as Programme Researcher, Cinema Manager and since 2012 as Production Manager. Since 2014, he works as Manager of Jihlava IDFF’s year-round educational programme Centre for Documentary Film. He has further organized numerous cultural events, such as concerts and theatre performances; in 2013, he was the General Manager of NECS (European Network for Cinema and Media Studies), Europe’s largest travelling conference focusing on film and media held in Prague. He is dealing with the relation between television and film on a long-term basis.

CPH:DOX

Case study: UNG:DOX and Everyday platform

UNG:DOX (YOUNG:DOX) was established in 2012 to give schools around Denmark the possibility of using new and relevant documentaries as part of the educational system, making it more interesting, innovative and relevant. UNG:DOX aims at making the big festival programme more accessible by handpicking documentaries that are particularly relevant for teachers and students alike. The chosen films are both artistic and critical documentaries, spanning different themes that are all important for contemporary culture and society. This way, both teachers and students get an exciting and living alternative to traditional, paper-based education. The films are accompanied by debates, Q&As with directors and workshops so the students will get a comprehensive experience, which is ideal for discussions and reflection back in the classroom.

Everyday is a new interactive video universe created by CPH:DOX. Everyday wants to disrupt the rapid online rush of elusive Snapchats and instead encourage personal storytelling with new and original perspectives. Everyday collaborates with several media schools, including Danish high schools with many film students, and with film courses supported by the Danish Film Institute. The learning universe of Everyday is both online (expert videos and web tools) and offline (workshops and seminars). With a smartphone or a GoPro and a personal opinion or story in focus, Everyday provides users with a platform for creative video storytelling with an eye

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on the other reality. The most striking, thought-provoking and creative videos have the chance of being screened during CPH:DOX. The very best will furthermore be awarded a special prize. Everyday is supported by Nordea-fonden.

Marie Ørbæk Christensen / CPH:DOX / Head of Everyday platform

Together with her team, Marie Ørbæk Christensen launched the new online media platform Everyday in 2015. Everyday is an interactive video universe and learning site created by CPH:DOX that focuses on ordinary people's extraordinary stories and challenges users to create artistic videos and tell personal stories through the cameras they carry right in their pocket. Marie is in charge of education, workshops and partnerships as well as Everyday's activities related to CPH:DOX in general and the festival.

Caroline Livingstone / CPH:DOX / Head of UNG:DOX

With a background in film and media studies and cultural mediation, Caroline Livingstone has since 2014 worked with the educational initiative UNG:DOX/youth education programme. Caroline is now head of UNG:DOX and in charge of their outreach programme and the organization of educational events for students in collaboration with their teachers. The events incorporate screenings of documentaries with educational material, speeches, debates, Q&As or workshops.

Docs Against Gravity FF

Case study: Documentary Academy – film and media education programmes for universities

The Documentary Academy organizes documentary film screenings for schools, parents, seniors and students throughout the year. During the festival period, schools and teachers are invited to attend screenings dedicated specifically to them, as documentary movies constitute an excellent source of knowledge necessary to function in the modern society. Every screening is followed by a discussion, during which the hosts encourage students to share their own opinions.

The presentation will focus on the reception of documentary films and the role emotions can play: When we start to identify with a film’s protagonist and his aims, we forget to check whether his activities are truthful or ethical. Documentary

Academy has developed a special course dealing with questions of the mechanism of truth used in films and how the truth might be constructed.

Jacek Wasilewski / University of Warsaw / lecturer

Jacek Wasilewski is a lecturer at the University of Warsaw, Department of Journalism. He is interested in communication in pop culture, cultural myths and

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semiotics of visual messages. He leads a course about propaganda in documentary films in cooperation with Against Gravity.

Institut fran

çais

Case study: CinEd

Supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA, Institut français has launched CinEd in September 2015. The project of European film education associates seven European partners from France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Based on the internet platform inspired by IFcinéma, the programme will present

contemporary films from seven partner countries all over Europe, subtitled in seven European languages and in English. Adapted to the diversity of European young audiences, the selection will contain films accompanied by pedagogical resources for primary, secondary and tertiary education for use at schools and outside schools. A training programme for teachers, educators and cultural mediators from partner countries will be available. During the first year, 12 films will be accessible online.

Anaïs Fontanel / Institut français – Head of European Affairs

Anaïs Fontanel joined the Institut français in 2011 and is Head of European Affairs since September 2014. She has participated in the creation and definition of a specifically European strategy for the Institut français. In 2009, she started working at Culturesfrance, an association in charge of promoting French culture worldwide. When Culturesfrance evolved into Institut français, she took part in the creation of the “Training” department, which provides the staff of the French embassies and cultural institutes abroad with training programmes, before focusing on the Institut français’ European field of action. Anaïs studied at Science Po Grenoble where she obtained a master’s degree in Cultural Management.