Abstract:

Cinema is a powerful vehicle to communicate and reflect upon personal and collective worldviews. Its usage in schools as an educational methodology has been widely explored by many policies and projects. It enables students to express and experience the world, in many ways, through image and sound. It also develops their critical thinking and awareness. In Portugal, the National Film Plan and many private initiatives from film clubs, film festivals, film associations and municipalities have been trying to capitalize that potential. Nevertheless, two problems often emerge. First, many of these institutions and programmes are located in urban contexts, which means that schools in peripheral regions become dependable of digital technology to access films and educational resources or methodologies. Second, teachers face frequent constraints in terms of the time and the resources available to implement film education projects in their schools, which ends up minimizing the contact opportunities with film experiences for students.
These needs justified the design and pilot-implementation of a new digital-based film education project in Portugal named “Insert”. It was drawn from national and international relevant practices in the field and consisted in the creation and dissemination of 20 videos and 1 pedagogical book on film theory and practice, supporting teachers and students in possible and varied pedagogical activities. It also comprised training sessions for teachers, focused on the usage of these resources. The pilot-implementation of Insert was done in five schools in northern Portugal, located in peri-urban areas and with few or no possibilities to participate in other film education projects. The feedback from teachers, students and school boards from these schools - after the usage of the resources and focused on their efficacy - enabled the finetuning of the project before launching it in an online open-access website.
In this paper, we will present the main features of the project and draw some of the main conclusions of its implementation and results. We will also frame and compare it to other national and international initiatives and programmes in film education, something which will clarify its positioning and usefulness for the present and the future.

Keywords:

Insert, project, film education, digital resources.