Film has the power to inspire, to educate, to entertain and to create community. CFI Education is building the next generation of filmmakers and audiences through our groundbreaking visual literacy programs. These programs use film as a personalized educational tool, promoting openness and a sophisticated worldview, and expanding classroom topics across borders and disciplines.
Working closely with 200 Bay Area schools and community groups, CFI Education presents the following educational programs to over 4,000 students per year:
Tulia Texas co-directors Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen (center, back row)with Tamalpais High AIM program students and teachers Mike Goldstein and Sharilyn Scharf
CFI Education: Our flagship year-round program (approximately 50 programs annually), offers free screenings with visiting filmmakers and subject-matter experts to area school groups. Programs are created with public and private school curricula in mind, often in coordination with participating teachers and community leaders. Some of the topics addressed include racism, poverty, religion, the law, activism, war, and the environment.
A Place in the World: a year-long curriculum that guides two groups of 100 high-school students from diverse backgrounds around the Bay Area through a series of carefully selected international films that address universal coming-of-age issues.
The Young Critics’ Jury: a crash course in critical thinking, filmmaking, film festivals and film curating for 20 high-school students, a smaller group who then go on to curate a selection of youth-produced films from all over the world to be screened during the Mill Valley Film Festival.
My Place: a new program starting its second year in Spring 2008 targeting at-risk youth. This intensive workshop focuses on location and its role in filmmaking, with each participant directing and producing a short film about a specific location that is their place: their home, church, school, recreation center, neighborhood or place where they feel safe. Programs have taken place in San Rafael’s canal district and in Marin City, San Francisco’s Mission District and Hunter’s Point and in downtown and East Oakland.
Teacher Workshops: CFI Education came together with area secondary school teachers and University educators to create new media literacy workshops for teachers in Marin. Since then this project has also coordinated with CFI and the Mill Valley Film Festival to facilitate using the festival films as a teaching tool. Feed-back from teachers has been wonderful and the program will be expanding in 2008 to other parts of the Bay Area.
Mill Valley Film Festival In-School Program: during the annual Mill Valley Film Festival we bring local and international directors into the classroom with their films. This includes programs for elementary, middle and high schools as well as colleges and universities.
