ons stival . - California Film Institute

California Film Institute Education
BuiLdinG the next Generation of fiLmmaKers and audiences
Film engages and inspires like no other medium. For
two decades the Mill Valley Film Festival and CFI
Education have pioneered creative film programs for
Bay Area young people, providing year-round
screenings, interactive sessions with film professionals
and hands-on activities to introduce students to the
power of film as a vibrant tool of communication.
We’re not just at the festivaL
In addition to our activities at the Festival, CFI Education
presents programs at the beautiful Christopher B. Smith
Rafael Film Center in Marin, the Pacific Film Archive in
Berkeley and other Bay Area theaters. We also come
directly to schools with our interdisciplinary, intercultural
film-study programs that are designed to supplement
the fields of literature, history, science and social
studies. To add depth to the viewing experience we’ve
created study guides, which are geared to conform to
California educational standards.
here are some of our current programs:
in-schooL fiLmmaKer proGram durinG
the miLL vaLLey fiLm festivaL
Each year three interns will work with the CFI Education
director to bring filmmakers and their films from the Mill
Valley Film Festival into Bay Area schools. In mid-August
we sign up schools and teachers, and in September
match up filmmakers with schools for an exciting
classroom exchange between students and filmmakers.
seLected screeninGs for schooLs
Throughout the year we provide schools with free
monthly screenings of important films. In addition, every
year we select six to eight feature films from the more
than two hundred films in the Festival and screen them
for schools for free during Festival time. Most of these
screenings occur during the school day at the Smith
Rafael Film Center; others are held at theaters in the East
Bay and San Francisco. After each screening, questionand-answer
sessions with filmmakers challenge students
to think their way through the films and to consider what
goes on both behind and in front of the camera.
younG critics jury
Held every July, the Young Critics Jury is a three-day
intensive workshop for youths aged 13–18 to learn
media literacy skills directly from filmmakers and film
historians. Directors, screenwriters, location scouts,
actors, animators, critics, documentary filmmakers,
cinematographers and others make this event an
exceptional educational experience. Six students are
chosen from the workshop to spend the following week
as jury and curators of the Mill Valley Film Festival Youth
Reel. Applications for this program are available on our
Web site.
CFI EDUCATION PROGRAMS ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY GRANTS FROM
The Bernard Osher Foundation
online | mvff.com
a pLace in the WorLd
This six-film curriculum is a school-year-long study of
youth from youth’s point of view. Teachers enroll groups
of students who commit to viewing and examining the
content of a selection of international films focusing on
defining moments in young people’s lives. The films
explore topics such as school, death, war, sexuality,
religion, racism and family, and they are supplemented
by speakers, study guides and other tools that explain
the films and amplify their themes. Now in its third year,
this program has received rave reviews from teachers
and students alike.
my pLace
Our new My Place program combines hands-on
filmmaking with storytelling skills. Local directors,
location scouts and the Center for Digital Storytelling in
Berkeley help students learn to see where they live
through different eyes—like a director. In our initial
program in April of this year, eight youths from Marin
City and the Canal district of San Rafael each made a
film about their places in their communities. In August
we worked in the Mission and Hunter’s Point in San
Francisco.
Part of My Place’s function is to help deepen alliances
among the various community and social services that
come together to assist us in locating student
participants. The My Place program is generously
funded by the Marin Community Foundation, Miranda
Lux Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation.
teachinG media Literacy in the
cLassroom
Another new project involves teacher workshops on
using film in the classroom, using innovative techniques
to widen the uses teachers can make of the film
medium. We launched the workshops in March and our
first session included 49 English teachers from the
Tamalpais School District.
Other programs underway include media literacy
workshops and screenings and a summer 2008 young
critics program, all directed to students in grades 2–5.
CFI Education serves more than 4,000 students every
year. Join us, and help us grow!
call, email or visit us online:
phone: 415.383.5256 x113
email: jmorrison@cafilm.org
online: cafilm.org
Miranda Lux Foundation
LEF FOuNdATiON
Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston,
The Shenson Foundation