Film Festivals And Prezi

Although I’m way behind in some other work, I was prompted to write this post today after reading Amanda’s post on Prezi, and so I can look Jeff in the eye again- having not posted here in so long. I’ll get to prezi in a second.

Last weekend, while dodging Jeff’s disappointed gaze*, I had the great honor of co-presenting three workshops at EARCOS with Breen O’Reilly, IB Film and video production teacher at the International School of Beijing. Breen’s name was mentioned to me even before we got to asia as a key person to contact in the development and implementation of a a film program.

We presented on Visual Literacy and Creating Film Festivals for students. For this presentation, I used Prezi- which is sort of a cross between a mind-mapping program (like Inspiration) and any given presentation software (like Keynote or Powerpoint). Its a great tool if you have trouble organizing your thoughts in a linear fashion (like yours truly). You can put all your ideas into the presentation in whatever order they come to you- and then create a path to help transform your cluttered ideas into a linear arrangement.

If you’re looking to build your own film festival, or just want to see another prezi in action (they can be addicting), take a look at our presentation. Prezi is one of my new favorite web tools. Its easy, its slick, and it combines organization and presentation into one easy application.

I also introduced our new network for student film festivals, developed towards two goals- helping new student film festivals organize and get off the ground, and helping create connections between these festivals. Currently, we’re working towards an Asia regional film festival -but festivals from all over the world are welcome to join.

If you are creating a film festival, thinking about creating a film festival, or just want to find places to send your students videos- join our conversation there.

*this is not true. Jeff is great at hiding his disappointment in me.**

**this is not true either, Jeff isn’t actually disappointed in me, I just wanted to build some dramatic effect***.

***this is not very dramatic.