Education strategy
Download the education strategy in pdf format 131 KB
Education: Introduction
The Film Agency has been committed to film education from our inception. Having assessed provision during our first years of operation - identifying strengths, gaps, opportunities and challenges - we have collaborated with a wide network of organisations, including the UK Film Council, First Light, Film Club, Film Education, other Regions and Nations and the BFI in devising a UK-Wide film education strategy, Film: 21st Century Literacy, which seeks to maximise the value and efficiency of current provision, build on its strengths and address the gaps. This document refreshes our Education Strategy within the context of this strategic work, refining our aims and funding priorities and outlining our vision for the future.
As per our original focus, our strategy is specifically concerned with film literacy, as opposed to vocational training that is otherwise provided by organisations such as Skillset and Cyfle.
We aim to ensure that all young people aged 19 and under in Wales have the opportunity to learn about film, whilst increasing breadth, scale and ambition of film education initiatives across Wales.
Funding is available for projects that fit our strategic aims and objectives and demonstrate both of the following criteria:
What is Film Literacy?
- Film Literacy is about extending knowledge of the moving image; encouraging learning, critical understanding, debate and conversation about films and the issues and emotions they raise.
- Film Literacy is making film more accessible to children and young people for their enjoyment, as a means of understanding the world and as a medium for self-expression.
Film Literacy is underpinned by the "three C's":
Cultural Access:
The opportunity to choose from a broad range of films and so get a better understanding of our and other people's culture, way of life and history.
Critical Understanding:
The confidence to look behind the surface of the screen, to understand a film's intentions, techniques and qualities.
Creative Activity:
The opportunity to make film and moving image, to have some understanding of the technical and creative process that allows the effective expression of a story, a mood or an idea.
What we do:
The Agency's core education activity is to support and facilitate projects that aim to develop film literacy as defined above, and to listen to, identify and understand the needs and desires of the sector, and where they meet our Aims and Objectives, respond to those needs and desires to the best of our abilities.
We operate an open door policy in offering advice, advocacy and facilitation of proposals, and where a proposal is at an early stage, but addresses or is likely to address the Agency's Aims and Objectives, we will collaborate in working up that proposal to help it reaching a form that we could potentially fund.
The Film Agency provides financial support for formal and informal (that is both curriculum based and non-curriculum) education initiatives for children and young people aged 19 and under. These projects might be delivered in exhibition venues, schools, at special events and/or within communities; as well as potentially via on-line, DVD and CD-ROM delivery. As a Film Agency, we have an in-built preference for venue led educational activity and it remains our goal to get as many and as wide an audience interested in and able to access specialist films at cinemas. However, we recognise that not all groups and individuals have easy access to venues, as might be the case for geographically remote communities, for example.
The Film Agency has worked closely with the Arts Council of Wales in aligning our film education priorities in the context of funding that the Arts Council of Wales currently offers, so that we add value rather than duplicate effort. Consequently, the Film Agency and the Arts Council for Wales are unlikely to fund the same project. Filmmaking education projects that do not fit Film Agency for Wales' objectives, e.g. focus on over 19's or do not fit both aspects of film literacy highlighted above, will continue to be considered for Arts Council funding.
Until such time that additional funds are raised by the Film Agency for education - our focus will principally be on Critical Understanding and Cultural Access focused projects, except where there are clear benefits within a creative filmmaking project that we can accommodate within our funding resources and that strongly meet our Aims and Objectives.
Who is it for?
The film education fund will provide financial support to formal and informal education initiatives for deliverers of film education, which might include:
- Exhibition venues
- Film societies
- Education establishments
- Community groups (where both aspects of film literacy are met, as above, otherwise please refer to the Arts Council for Wales' website, www.artswales.org.uk)
- Education organisations
Applications must be from incorporated companies (i.e. not individuals) who operate on a not-for-profit basis.
All projects must primarily take place in Wales and contribute to the furtherance of film literacy of those in Wales aged 19 and under.
Where a cinema, film society or other entity wishes to apply but does not have an education officer in post we will encourage and advise upon collaborations with third party practitioners to help deliver the project.
Applicants and providers working with children and young people must provide evidence of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) compliance, prior to any funds being released.
Core Priorities Going Forward
The Film Agency will continue to support film education to complement our central priority of creating and maintaining a dynamic film culture across Wales, developing our provision in the context of the UK-wide film education strategy Film: 21st Century Literacy (www.21stcenturyliteracy.org.uk). This will involve both filling important gaps in provision, getting better value from previous and existing projects and initiatives, and initiating complementary activities that extend the range of film education into previously unexplored areas.
To do this we will:
- Assist the development and co-fund a range of film literacy focused projects across Wales;
- Develop an online database of practitioners, education packs and materials, as created by the various initiatives that we support, for the use of third parties;
- Where possible, ensure filmmakers who benefit from Agency production finance to provide materials that can be used for educational purposes, such as storyboards, shooting scripts, sample scenes and out-takes, production design and costume breakdowns;
- Devise and implement an accredited professional development programme for both new and existing practitioners (within and outside of formal, curriculum based education) to standardise best practice and increase the quality of film education for children and young people;
- Increase the number of film education practitioners in Wales;
- Endeavour to create a toolkit for teachers to encourage the use of film within the curriculum;
- Endeavour to roll out After School Film Clubs Wales-wide;
- Champion collaboration, creating and utilising partnerships and a network of practitioners to maximise provision and access for children and young people;
- Prioritise rural and community first or otherwise under provided areas, to ensure a genuinely Wales-wide impact and to contribute to regeneration benefits in those areas;
- Be an advocate for film education and its benefits;
- Seek additional funds to underpin medium to long term plans to sustainably expand film education provision across Wales, without restricting provision by age (see 'Long Term Aims').
In addition we will continue to provide a comprehensive web site and "open access" events where the Agency can communicate its plans and activities and where any and all interested parties can meet the Agency team, input ideas and discuss areas of interest.
Long Term Aims
By ensuring sustained communication, regular monitoring and on-going assessment of the relative impact of our strategic interventions, we wish to use this body of evidence to leverage significant new investment into film education to enable expansion and sustainability of these activities, which in turn promote a host of invaluable 'soft skills' including communication, literacy, social engagement and a sense of citizenship.
We will seek to identify organisations going forward who can operate either as single entities or in collaboration with other practitioners to create 'Film Education Hubs' across Wales, who will embody best practice. We will look to appropriately resource these Hubs to enhance Wales-wide film education, increasingly addressing those gaps currently identified in provision.
Funding
Formal Applications for funding will be accepted three times a year, however where the proposal is at an early stage, but addresses or is likely to address the Agency's Aims and Objectives, we will offer advice and assistance to help increase its chances of receiving funding.
Submissions should be made on a project-by-project basis.
Successful applicants will be awarded funding of up to 75% of the cost of any given project, up to a cap of £12,000, with a ceiling of £20,000 to any one provider/applicant in any given year.
As an Agency we have a specific focus on the medium of film and encourage exhibitor involvement such that films are shown in a cinema wherever possible, though it is recognised that film literacy can also be stimulated and addressed through other media. We also encourage the involvement of film industry practitioners and representatives wherever possible to stimulate interest and convey direct experience.
Our funding agreements will be tailored to specific projects and will identify agreed clear objectives and methods for approaching data collection and assessment of the impact of the project.
Please refer to our Guidelines and Application form for further details.
