Education
Education
The Philadelphia Film Society is committed to engaging audiences of all ages through educational screenings, discussion, and relevant curricula. For more information regarding student field trips during the Philadelphia Film Festival, visit our Field Trips page.
Albert M. Greenfield Student Screening Program
Your classes are now able to experience outstanding and engaging film year-round through the Albert M. Greenfield Student Screening Program. Field trips to the PFS Roxy Theater include a film screening, accompanied by a detailed curriculum packet for each film that provides pre and post-viewing activities, discussion prompts, and connections to Pennsylvania learning standards. Field trips are best suited for grades 6 – 12.
Field trips can be booked Mondays – Thursdays with a 10:00 AM film start time. The Roxy can accommodate 77 audience members, including both students and chaperones. We require one chaperone for every 10 students.
There is no admission fee to attend a film. Transportation and any costs associated are up to each school to cover. Through generous support from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, we are able to offer bus reimbursements of up to $100.00 for qualifying schools. Please indicate if you would like to be considered in the application form.
Applications must be submitted at least two weeks prior to your desired trip. If you would like to reserve your trip, please fill out our application form.
Films Spring/Fall 2018
THE BREADWINNER
Nora Twomey | Canada | 2017 | 94 min
This captivating animated film follows the journey of Parvana, a young girl who must find a job to provide for her family in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. When her father is suddenly arrested for being an intellectual, Parvana becomes the breadwinner, disguising herself as a boy and finding work in the streets of Kabul. In order to save her father and reunite her family, she overcomes many obstacles in a war-torn, difficult environment and becomes a face of bravery and courage.
WALLAY
Berni Goldblat | France | 2017 | 84 min
Exciting and insightful, WALLAY tells the story of Ady, a young boy sent from his home in France to live with his external family in Burkina Faso. At odds with his father who is raising him alone, Ady is thrown into a new world in Africa where he must navigate relationships with his extended family members and a different set of cultural values. This narrative film showcases the challenges of living within a new culture while learning the value of family.
PLASTIC CHINA
Jiu-liang Wang | China | 2016 | 86 min
China is the world’s leading importer of plastic waste from Japan, Korea, Europe, and the United States. Within the country, there are thousands of individual recycling operations. This documentary film follows one of these recycling plants and the families that live in and operate it. Yi-Jie, the film’s protagonist is an unschooled, 11 year old girl who helps her father tirelessly in the plant and exhibits fantastic imagination and positivity. Despite poor living and working conditions, the characters in PLASTIC CHINA exhibit strong will and determination.
BEE NATION
Lana Šlezić | Canada | 2017 | 78 min
BEE NATION chronicles the lives of several unique children all striving to compete in a national spelling bee. The national championships of the Spelling Bee of Canada takes place in Toronto every year, and for the first time, students from the province of Saskatchewan participate in the First Nations Spelling Bee for a chance to compete at the national level. This documentary shows the challenges that First Nations students face living within the vast openness of the reserve and the families that support them.
LANDFILL HARMONIC
Brad Allgood, Graham Townsley | USA | 2015 | 84 min
This inspiring documentary follows a unique youth orchestra from Cateura, Paraguay, and chronicles their success under trying circumstances. Their musical instruments are constructed out of recycled garbage, proving to be both a challenge and a fact that sets them apart. The orchestra, under the musical direction of Favio Chavez, exists because of the resourcefulness of people living in difficult conditions, and proves that music is a tool that has the power to transform communities.
WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS
Beth Murphy | USA | 2015 | 77 min
Following the Zabuli Education Center, the first all girls’ school in a small Afghan village, WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS brings to the forefront human perseverance. Telling the stories of the school’s founder, as well as following the lives of some of its very first students, this documentary paints a portrait of what it’s like to be a girl in modern-day Afghanistan.
If you have any questions please contact Julie Basla, Education & Outreach Manager at jbasla@filmadelphia.org