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RIGA IFF Film Club

Programme	Local Development and Culture
Selection	Open project
Competition title	RIGA IFF Film Club
Donorstate/international project partner	Norsk filmklubbforbund (Norwegian Federation of Film Societies), Norway (https://filmklubb.no/)
Project national Nr.	EEZ/2021/1/10
GrACE project Nr.	LV-LOCALDEV-0015
Contract No.	4.3.1-12-5
Contract Date	12.01.2022
Project title	RIGA IFF Film Club
Project promoter	Association “Riga International Film festival” (https://rigaiff.lv/lv/)
Start of project eligibility	17.01.2022
Project end	16.07.2023
Total eligible costs	220 956.00€
Grant financing	187 812.60€
National co-financing	33 143.40€
Project status	Completed
Project goal/description	Shoulder to shoulder with experienced educators and film professionals from Norway and Latvia, RIGA IFF will create an online film club. Tailored especially for children aged 9 – 15 years old and available everywhere in Latvia, RIGA IFF Film Club will consist of a series of 10 interactive workshops in the form of pre-recorded videos, each lasting 30 – 40 minutes. In each video, a different aspect of film and filmmaking will be covered, allowing the audience to understand how films are made and to deconstruct the content they are viewing. The audience will get to know key points from the history of cinema and put this newly acquired knowledge into action by taking part in various gamified quizzes, thus unlocking the further content. The workshops will be moderated by a locally known theatre or film personality, for example an actor from the younger generation (Klāvs Mellis), whom the young audience would not regard as a figure of authority but rather a friendly figure, a peer, rendering the workshops less formal and didactic. In each workshop a film professional from Latvia or Norway will reveal aspects of their work, explaining what their input in making a film is; Norwegian experts will be invited to travel to Latvia or – if travel will be impossible – recorded via online sessions. Directors, animators, scriptwriters and other film professionals will share their experience and tell what are their responsibilities and actions when making a film. Each workshop video will use dynamic editing, aligning introduction and closing statements from the moderator with brief “lectures” from filmmakers, film fragments and short quizzes in the form of brief questions during the workshop. We will use fragments (of films available for viewing at the film club and those which are in the public domain). They will allow the participants to test their knowledge (without evaluating it) and help them focus. A more expanded version of the quizzes – to fill in after watching the workshop and the film – will be available in a separate printable PDF file, available for download with each workshop. All workshops will have an additional access to feature length films (for later viewing after the workshop), where the respective aspects are well manifested. In regards to the format of each workshop, we will create it with interactive elements (pop-up questions, animated elements, etc.), to ensure the viewing experience is engaging and not monotonous. Choice of video format is not a necessity dictated by the current epidemiological situation, nor a plan B – it is a conscious decision that will allow us to address the audience in a way and format that they are familiar with. For example, Youtube format, used by various teenage influencers, video game experts and others. Youtube is one of the most popular social media for youth and it has one of the steadiest and largest follower bases. The video format allows to engage the audience with the tools that they are familiar with, at the same time linking this audiovisual language with the history of cinema and cultural education. The workshops and the films will be available online, with a possibility to download the workshop video files. There will be two options for accessing the content of the film club: via schools, community centres as an extracurricular activity or part of the study process. In that case, the viewing experience would resemble a collective film screening, except it would include interactive elements and a possibility to pause the workshop video, to discuss it with others. In case of Covid restrictions, we will encourage schools to organise the screenings complying with the rules (even if that means scheduled, individual viewing for each participant). This applies mostly to remote Latvian regions, where children still may not have access to computers or smartphones; schools and community centres may be the only places where children can join the workshop and view the film. For children in the capital or other cities with access to personal computers, there will be an option to join the film club individually. The festival will be expanding its existing database of schools and municipal organizations, in order to inform the potential participants about this project and provide any necessary information for successful onboarding – this task will be assigned to dedicated personnel – participant coordinators. The website of the film club will also contain all the necessary information and instructions of use as well as suggestions for most efficient use of the film club. RIGA IFF Film Club workshops and related informational materials will be self sustainable after the launch of the project. Afterwards, new episodes and films can be added, focusing on different topics and, for example, Latvian national films. To strengthen the community of the RIGA IFF Film Club participants, there will be meetings and film screenings organised during the annual run of Riga International Film festival, where participants will be invited (if the epidemiological situation allows). Activities of a more compact scale will be held on the Norwegian side as well, where the children's film clubs will be offered a set of Latvian family films, available to all film club members free of charge. No workshops will be added to the film selection on the Norwegian side, the audience will be invited to engage in discussions about the content seen. The result of the project: The RIGA IFF film club project will deliver mobile and easily accessible film viewing experience, paired with sustainable and fun educational workshop videos that will not only serve as a valuable tool for analysing and deconstructing the cinematic content but also be useful for analysing audiovisual media elsewhere – in the social media, news and other sources. By joining the film club, children and educators will gain access to a curated filmography of Norwegian family films, suitable for children aged 9 – 15 years old and allowing to look at the world from the perspective of their Norwegian peers, as well as addressing important topics such as relationships with family and the surrounding world, school life and speaking against bullying, self esteem, honesty, inclusiveness, social responsibility as well as consideration towards environment among other themes. Before viewing the films, children will be hearing from film professionals, getting to peek behind the scenes of filmmaking and test their knowledge. By guiding the children through the workshop in a gamified, immersive and interactive manner, we hope to achieve that they do not feel like in a classroom, but rather like they are viewing a Youtube video along with friends – experiencing the ease, playfulness of the format, yet viewing educational content. This is important, because the added value of the RIGA IFF Film club is also its ability to draw attention to the audiovisual social media content – our aim is to provide children with more critical thinking and analysis tools, in order to help them grow into smart and conscious media consumers that are not easily manipulated by fake news.
Implementation place	Visa Latvija

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