Film education from the film festival
organizers point of view
New Horizons Association
• Established in 2003
• Biggest projects:
– T-Mobile New Horizons Int’l FF(14 editions so far)
– American Film Festival (5 editions)
– New Horizons of Film Education
– distribution incl. New Horizons Tournée
– New Horizons Cinema – Poland’s only multiplex
with an auteur repertoire
New Horizons of Film Education
• Cyclical meetings at cinemas for school groups
• 40 towns, 170 titles, 38,000 students and 2,500 teachers annually
• Four age groups: 6-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-19
• Interdisciplinary program: film screenings, multimedia
presentations, talks, workshops
• Didactic materials prepared by organizers allow for the film
education to continue outside the cinema, e.g. at schools or cultural
centers
• The program is recommended by the Minister of National
Education and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage
T-Mobile New Horizons IFF
• Poland’s largest film festival
• About 100 000 tickets sold each year, app. 380 titles,
including 200 feature-length films
• Main goals: presenting bold auteur cinema, both classic
and contemporary and film education
• Interdisciplinary event – there are concerts, exhibitions,
installations and theater shows in addition to the film repertoire
• Festival educational activities are directed to various groups:
viewers, film critics, young directors and producers, the Polish film
industry, teachers and children
Film education at the festival
• Retrospectives: Jean-Luc Godard, Michelangelo Antonioni, Pier
Paolo Pasolini, Derek Jarman, Bela Tarr, Tsai Ming-liang
• Thematic sections: mockumentaries, midnight movies, focus on
cinematography – e.g. Greece, Mexico, Australia, Argentina
• New Horizons of Film Language: costume, special effects,
photography, actor, mise-en-scene
• Master classes: Peter Greenaway, Bela Tarr, Andrzej Wajda, Terry
Gilliam, Reha Erdem
• Introductions and lectures run by experts and film critics
• Q&As
Children’s film section
• Weekend screenings for the youngest viewers, preceded
by a short introduction
• Arts and crafts workshops after each screening
• Select festival editions include animation workshops
run by international animated filmmakers
Summer New Horizons Academy
• Teacher workshops – held annually for the most engaged
participants of the New Horizons of Film Education project
• 12 workshop days, about 160 teachers
• Program includes lectures and workshops about:
– Making features and documentaries
– Creating animations
– Drama classes as a method of in-depth film discussion
– Curator classes, e.g. assembling an exhibition based on
audiovisual materials from the National Audiovisual
Institute
New Horizons Studio
• 4-day workshops held annually during T-Mobile New Horizons IFF
• Participants: young film industry representatives – directors and
producers at the start of their careers
• Topic: how the international film industry operates in Poland and
abroad
• Issues: coproduction, festival strategy, the role of a sales agent,
distribution and its alternative forms, pitching of film projects
• Tutors: sales agents, festival programmers, producers, distributors,
film marketing specialists, film pitching specialists
Polish Days
• A market of Polish films during the T-Mobile New Horizons IFF
• Target: sales agents, distributors, producers, international
festival programmers
• Pitching projects at preproduction stage, works in progress
presentations, showing completed films
• Additionally, each year, pitching workshops for Polish directors
and producers run by specialists from abroad
Sunday In the Country
• 4-day international workshops for young film critics
• Organized in cooperation with the European Film Academy
• Workshops include: film screenings, discussions, director
Q&As
• Goal: to learn about contemporary cinema and its trends,
exchange experiences, network with film critics from other
countries
NH Publications
• Books and DVD albums that accompany festival sections, e.g.
monographs of Jean-Luc Godard, Terry Gilliam, Guy Maddin,
Hungarian cinema, Turkish cinema, etc.
• Authors from Poland and abroad: film experts, critics,
authorities
• Sometimes our publications are the first on a given topic
published in Poland
I watch, feel, think
– a report about teens in cinema
• Conclusions:
– 72% of respondents claim film taught them to see others
in a different way
– 81% of respondents feel films about other cultures help them
to learn more about those cultures
– 80% of respondents feel that watching stories about others
helps them learn about the world and themselves
– 74% of respondents admit to seeing films that influenced them
powerfully
• Contact with ambitious films is one of the most important factors
shaping the personalities and world views of young people