Ruhr Forum of Film Education
PAULA'S CHILDREN, a contemporary art project of KUBO Bremen in cooperation with the Kunsthalle Bremen / Photo: Bettina Cohnen, Landschaftsbild #9, 2007
At the time when pictures became movies, smoke swirled over the Ruhr region, colouring the buildings black. Now most of the furnaces are closed, but moving images still hold their fascination. Film is the medium of the generation at the beginning of the 21st century. Moving images are everywhere and enjoy unrestricted access: at home and on the move, on iPods and on mobile phones.
Then as now, pictures say more than a thousand words, but what knowledge can moving pictures impart? How and where can know-how about non-mainstream films be found? Film education that is in keeping with the times is indispensable. This doesn’t simply mean conveying content through film; rather, how does one learn to understand images and evaluate and question them critically? During the Capital of Culture year, the Ruhr Forum of Film Education seeks to answer these questions. As a cooperation involving five of the most important Ruhr film festivals, the goal of the project is to suggest new approaches derived from festival practice for facilitating arts-based film education in schools.
An international lecture series at the Ruhr University Bochum during the summer semester 2010 promises some exciting ideas. It is open to all those interested in the topic, and comprises talks by well-known film specialists, philosophers, educationalists, media theorists and film curators.
Lectures will be given by speakers including Alain Bergala (Paris), Winfried Pauleit (Bremen), Alexander Horwath (Vienna), Andreas Broeckmann (Dortmund/Berlin), Cary Bazalgette (London), Oliver Fahle (Bochum), Thomas Elsaesser (Amsterdam), Volker Pantenburg/Stefanie Schlüter (Berlin), Alexandra Schneider (Amsterdam), Vinzenz Hediger (Bochum), Dorit Müller (Berlin) and Annette Kuhn (London).
In addition to the lecture series at the Ruhr University Bochum, the Ruhr Forum of Film Education will offer hands-on training courses for film-loving educationalists in the region. Covering everything from theory to practice, the courses will provide teachers with a vivid understanding of film, its history and specific modes of expression - plus a festival ambience!
Indeed, cinema is hugely important deep in western Germany. Film fans can enjoy an unparalleled series of festivals representing a uniquely rich cultural diversity. Every year, the film festivals give schoolchildren and teachers thrilling encounters with a living film culture. Whether short films, documentaries or feature films: each genre has its own artistic means, reflecting the diversity of educational approaches to film in the Ruhr region. The result is a cinematic approach to teaching that enables direct and meaningful access to film.
Using methods from film-festival practice and in line with the films given profiles, film culture is thus made understandable to all the senses. Starting with the participants' own experience of real-life film design, through sensitisation to the particular characteristics of the genres specific to each festival, to knowledge of film series and contact with film-makers and actors, the courses promise innovative content for use in the classroom and an up-to-date understanding of film.
The courses will be held during the film festivals in Oberhausen, Duisburg, Lünen and Bochum. The Dortmund event will take place in the newly opened Dortmund U, a centre for art and creativity.
The Ruhr Forum of Film Education is a joint initiative of the film festivals in the Ruhr region: blicke. Ruhr Film Festival (Bochum), Duisburg Film Week/doxs!, Oberhausen International Short Film Days, International Women’s Film Festival Dortmund|Cologne, Lünen Film Festival in cooperation with the Institute for Media Studies of the Ruhr University Bochum.
You can find additional information at:
frauenfilmfestival
www.kinofest-luenen.de
www.kurzfilmtage.de
www.duisburger-filmwoche.de
www.do-xs.de
www.blicke.org