TIFF International Film Education Symposium

The National Film Archive of Japan has been holding annual events aimed primarily at elementary and junior high school students, such as the “Children’s Cinema,” since 2002. In 2023, for the first time, it co-hosted the “International Symposium on Film Education” with the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), where it discussed the social significance of film education with experts from France, Scotland, and South Korea.

This year, the TIFF International Film Education Symposium will be held again. This time, we will welcome people who are engaged in film education, working with children facing various social challenges such as war, poverty, and refugee status, and consider what film can do.

The theme of the festival is “Children of the World are Waiting for Films,” named after the documentary “100 Children Waiting for a Train” (1988, directed by Ignacio Aguero), which moved and influenced many people and depicts the activities of Alicia Vega, who ran a “children’s film class” in a poor area of Chile under the dictatorship.

On the day, we will welcome guests from Chile, including Alicia Vega, as well as Palestine and Spain, to discuss the possibilities of film education. We look forward to your participation.

Schedule

11:00 Opening

11:20 Screening of reference works (screening of films and videos related to the speakers)

12:00 Break

13:00 “Children’s Film School: 20 Years of History and Future Prospects”

Etsuko Doi (Representative Director and Producer of the Children’s Film School)

13:30 Break

13:45 “Alicia Vega’s Teachings and the Present: The Current State of Art Education in Latin America”

Sebastian Rifo Valdebenito (Director of the Alicia Beca Cultural Foundation / Chile)

14:30 Break

14:50 “20 Years of Cinema en Cruz: Film as a Place to Be”

Laia Correll Aparicio (Founder and Co-Director of A Bao A Qu / Spain)

15:35 Break

15:50 “The Importance of Film Education in FilmLab Palestine’s Activities”

Hannah Atallah (Founder and Artistic Director of Filmlab Palestine / Palestine)

16:35 Break

17:00 Panel discussion: “Social issues and the potential of film education”

Sebastian Rifo Valdebenito, Hanna Atallah, Laia Correll Aparicio, Etsuko Doi

Moderator: Mika Tomita (National Film Archive of Japan)

Q&A

18:30 Closing

*The end time is an estimate. Please note that the content and speakers of the symposium may change without notice.