A film does not begin with the screening. It begins with a gaze, with a question a child asks when facing an image, or with a story they wish to tell themselves.

Film education is one of the key areas we wish to pay special attention to within Tribute to a Vision / Poklon viziji / Omaggio a una visione. For many years, the festival has been connecting cinema with youth and creative work; this year, we want to dedicate a space to those who practice film education every day in schools, cultural institutions, and other environments.

From Watching to Creating

The professional symposium When the Screen Becomes a Classroom: New Approaches to Film Education will take place on Tuesday, September 29 at 16:00 at BorGO Cinema in Gorizia. It is aimed at film educators, pedagogical workers, cultural institutions, and anyone interested in how to develop film literacy today and bring cinema to young people as a space for understanding the world and expressing themselves.

The event will open with Egle Frandolič, who leads the Kinomagnet programme at Kinoatelje, presenting an overview of film education today in the Goriška/Gorizia region. Following this, Hana Repše from the Association for the Development of Film Culture, Lorena Pavlič from Institute Otok, and Mirjana Doblanović Pekica, children and youth programme organizer at Kino Valli and co-creator of their Film u školi programme, will present various approaches and experiences in working with children and young people. Each speaker will draw upon a specific practical case study – spanning film literacy, filmmaking, and interdisciplinary connections.

What Happens When the Screen Becomes a Classroom?

This is where the most engaging part of the discussion begins: what are we actually teaching when we teach how to watch a film? How can we introduce film language to young people without turning it into a set of rigid rules? How do we create conditions where youth can express their own experiences through cinema, and how can film education be connected with other fields of knowledge, the school environment, and everyday life?

Rather than a series of formal lectures, the meeting is designed as a collaborative exchange of concrete practice. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the audience, moderated by Nadina Štefančič.

Admission free.