Education
Watching documentary films can help school children and students broaden their horizons—to learn to empathize with the experiences and perspectives of others, to become active citizens, and to develop critical thinking skills. This is of great importance in a media-dominated society. That is why education is one of IDFA’s pillars
Schoolscreening: Echt gebeurd? (Picture: Angeniet Berkers)
The educational activities reach a wide, young, and diverse audience. IDFA’s education program focuses on elementary education, secondary school, and college students (MBO) across the country. Next to school screenings and various workshops during the festival and in Het Documentaire Paviljoen, IDFA offers access to online films to be shown in classrooms through Docschool Online.
In 2023, just like in 2022, no fewer than 50,000 students will have been reached with the education program: more than 21,000 through online visits, more than 26,000 in cinemas during the festival and throughout the year, and 900 students during 20 screenings in Het Documentaire Paviljoen.
A new home in the Vondelpark
With the move to the Vondelpark, IDFA's education program has been expanded. Since the autumn of 2023, schools can participate in film lessons in the cinema of Het Documentaire Pavilion outside of IDFA’s festival period. This new location offers space for additional depth in the lessons and workshops offered. The demand for additional film education programs is evident from the twenty film lessons scheduled by schools within three months’ time.
An example of a program that was offered is ‘The Stories of My (Grand) Parents’ (De verhalen van mijn (groot)ouders). Using various film fragments, students investigate how the consequences of a war affect different generations and how filmmakers depict this. Another example is the program ‘Did this really happen?’ (Echt Gebeurd?). Here, children explore the gray area between documentary and fiction together with a filmmaker.
All education programs offered in Het Documentaire Paviljoen place a strong emphasis on the experience of film, film analysis, interaction, and reflections.
Explore the programs that took place in the Vondelpark in the autumn of 2023.
Schoolscreening: De verhalen van mijn (groot)ouders (Picture: Coen Dijkstra)
Festival
Film still from Scenes with My Father (Biserka Šuran)
During the festival, the education program consisted of approximately eighty school screenings for elementary education, secondary school, and college students. The film selection was made in close collaboration with schools and included themes such as divorce, friendship, migration, social media, gender identity, and sport. Each film offered starting points for conversations and analysis of the film language and themes, supported by teaching materials and conversations with the audience. The focus this year was to increase the quality of the moderation program. We accomplished this by inviting more professionals and developing extensive manuals. A survey conducted among teachers indicated high satisfaction levels regarding IDFA’s education program, with moderation receiving an 8.3 rating and an overall average rating of 8.4, with the locations and communication receiving the highest ratings.
The number of school children and students involved from outside of Amsterdam also increased considerably. Collaboration with cinemas across the country expanded our national reach in cultural education programs extensively this year—a goal we will continue to invest in in the coming period.
IDFA's education program is supported by Deloitte Impact Foundation, Fonds 21, inVision Subtitling BV, IDFA’s Special Friends+ and Patrons.
