Classroom to Screening Room Grades 5 — 12

Screenings of feature films and shorts, followed by discussions with JBFC faculty, filmmakers, and other special guests, offer an interdisciplinary experience. Students encounter film as an art form while exploring its connection to social, economic, and cultural forces.

The opportunities the JBFC provides our students to engage with extraordinarily important material and issues is unparalleled, and the educational enrichment this program offers our students is incalculable.

-Samuel North, Social Studies teacher, Ossining High School

Educational Objectives

• Understand the language of film, including cinematography, editing, lighting, framing, and point of view
  
• Learn to read and analyze documentary and narrative films
  
• Experience world languages and cultures in the context of international film style, history, and artistic movements
  
• Enjoy enhanced study of historical events and figures through viewing documentaries and historical narratives

Participation

• Feature Films 
  

Teachers can select a feature film from our curated Education Film Library. Feature film screenings are followed by a facilitated discussion with JBFC faculty.  This year, we will feature six films in our Classroom to Screening Room Film Library that can be viewed throughout the year. These films include favorites such as Brooklyn Castle, Somewhere Between, Song of the Sea, Louder Than a Bomb, Landfill Harmonic, and a new Documentary Shorts Program that includes Inocente and Andrew With Great Fanfare.  Additional film offerings this year include limited-run screenings that must be scheduled at least 3 months in advance, featuring films such as Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Kid with a Bike, Rabbit-Proof Fence, and Wadjda.  

• Workshops 
  

Teachers can choose from a variety of Classroom to Screening Room Workshops, which utilize both short films and clips from feature films to engage students on topics from the vocabulary of film analysis, to the structure of visual narrative, power of persuasive media, and more. Our workshops are a fantastic way to introduce students to the breadth of media literacy and film analysis, particularly for educators or school districts with newly-implemented media arts or film studies curricula.

In addition to the above feature films and workshops, we will schedule a variety of Special Event Screenings throughout the year. Upcoming special events include films from our annual Focus on Nature Series and other films from our regularly scheduled programming. These events will be announced both on our website and in our monthly Schools and Teachers E-Bulletin.  If you are interested in attending a special screening and/or joining our e-bulletin mailing list, please contact Manager of School Programs Sarah Lempke O'Hare at education@burnsfilmcenter.org.

Screenings take place 10am - 12pm, Tuesday - Friday at the JBFC Theater. We can accommodate groups no larger than 135 Tuesday-Thursday and a maximum of 55 on Friday, including teachers and chaperones; Workshops are limited to 60 students. Fees are as follows: $8/student (feature films); $12/student (workshops); $200 minimum. There is no charge for teachers and chaperones. 

Please complete our google form to schedule a school visit or register for a special screening.