“Watching my children study, I realized that they are the same as I was when I was studying,” explains Cesar Lazaro, a 61-year-old father from Majadahonda. It may be A concern for any father or mother with school-aged children. It is, in most cases, what fuels your creativity It is not available in many educational institutionsAnd the house becomes a spontaneous laboratory where the little ones can spread their wings.
Lázaro, instead of resigning himself, decided to break the mandate and launched the Madrid Educación Film Festival last year. After a successful first edition, he believes it has revitalized the educational film festival Students and teachers are the protagonists..
“It is an educational festival reality“, defines Lazaro simply. But in reality it is an accomplished endeavor Strengthening the institutional, social and commercial triangle, with a new way of teaching at the core: with cinema. “It’s interesting what they can do with a camera and everything together,” explains the mind behind the Madrid Educación Film Festival. “We saw short films about gender equality, social inclusion, disability or the environment.”
[EducaCiencia Film Festival, ¿y si los próximos ‘goyas’ estuvieran aún en el cole?]
And some do it from science fiction, admiring the image of superheroes admired. That’s how it is Some children decide to express their passion and interest in social issues: “Young people are very engaged,” Lazaro admits.
Last year, pictures of taking home an idol: The killer is plastic (Early Childhood and Primary Education), We don’t have Planet B (Secondary Education, Undergraduate and Intermediate FP), Recycle… d(University and Higher FP), is high (Inclusion and Social Education) and We substitute words for signs (Most voted movie by public). total, There are 6 categories in this competition. All of them—less than 15 minutes long—can be seen on stage. MecFilmFestival.
“YouTube for Education”
Lazaro says that the purpose of the platform is not only to support the management of content judged by the public and the festival jury, but to create “YouTube for education and training“Any student or teacher can access the classroom because,” he asserts, “people want to learn.”
As the content and audience grows, videos are organized by category and stay there. What differentiates the videos this site receives from others found on other sites is how they approach the topics. “Intimacy is characteristic to our platform; “That said, the best way to do it is to be friendly,” Lazaro defends.
[Sesiones de cine adaptadas para personas con autismo: “No entienden que la película empiece 20 minutos después”]
One of the short films that inspired Lazaro the most was about blood donation. “It was super educational,” he recalls. “They tell you what types of blood are available and when it’s best to donate … and in just two minutes!” He explains. This father and professional in the audiovisual world is very proud of what the festival has achieved: “All movies have a happy ending, they start with a problem and fix it“.
Child Empowerment Movement
“His message:’We will solve all the existing problems“”, says Lazaro. The Short Film Festival is not its only initiative. Since last year, many organizations, public institutions and personalities from the world of science have jumped on the bandwagon to empower children and adolescents through education. Encouraging ambitious actions.
During the first edition, they collaborated with the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) during their Science in the Neighborhood conference to disseminate a project. Also, they organized an exhibition last June in collaboration with NORMA Editorial, European Space Agency, INTA and CSIC. Science, space, superheroes and comics In the Snow Palace From Madrid.
“For men and women They love superheroes“, maintains Lázaro. That is why they decided to organize a workshop that included the participation of José Antonio Caballero, a Madrid astrophysicist participating in the Carmenes project. “It was wonderful, José Antonio. He is a fan of superhero comics and explained to boys and girls how they relate to scientific knowledge,” says Lazaro.
They organized it last June A conference on Women Leaders in Science and Technology It was managed by Sol de la Cuatra-Salcedo, daughter of legendary journalist and globetrotter Miguel de la Cuatra-Salcedo, along with four Spanish scientists. Through this initiative, from the Madrid Educación Film Festival they “Encourage young female students to pursue STEM careers“. They, as Lazaro notes, “told their personal experience and how proud they were to get to where they are.”
Lazaro says that the next venture they want to undertake will be related to artificial intelligence (AI). Based on the benefits of this technology being used in education, “we wanted to bring together experts from different disciplines to give us the keys to how to use them safely in the classroom.” “There is A very important ethical component“, Lazaro admits.
Road to Second Edition
The balance of the first edition was a total of 86 candidates, representing 8 autonomous communities and 3 participating countries. “In addition to the films from Spain, there was one from the Inshuti School (Rwanda) and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (USA),” says Lazaro. This year They hope that there will be more schools offering their original works. The process followed by movies is as follows:
- Commencement of Registration Period (September 1, 2023)
- Upload the short film to the platform for registration and access to the site Madrid Educaciencia Film Festival.
- Short upload to service.
- Festival Committee approval process.
- Release on stage – From there you can vote for the audiovisual piece.
- Registration period ends (March 31, 2024).
- Voting period ends (after 10-12 days).
- Judges’ Deliberation Period.
- Announcement of winners in each category.
“They don’t have to be the highest cinematography level films. It’s not like a professional festival like Cannes or San Sebastian“, laughs Lázaro. And the judges, who included Cruz Sánchez de Lara’s vice president and editor of ENCLAVE ODS and Magas verticals of this digital newspaper, “really love all the images. A way to support the hard work of participating children and adolescents“, Collaboration.
In this second edition, Lazaro expects that “winners will receive more generous gifts more appropriate to the schools they represent.” “We are very excited; We want cinema to become a tool for learning in classrooms“, he comments. And he adds: “Who knows? The next Almodóvar may be in class right now“.
