The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is hoping to enhance film and media arts education in New York City public schools by launching an educational program with two new initiatives, the institute announced via a press release. The first initiative, called Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts: The Moving Image, will be an in-school program that will send experienced filmmakers, called TFI Teaching Artists, to 100 classrooms throughout New York. The second initiative, called Tribeca Teachers, will feature TFI’s first bilingual, after-school program in Chinatown.

The Moving Image initiative is the first curriculum designed for the study of films in primary schools. The Teaching Artists will help students improve their skills in the media arts. Meanwhile, Tribeca Teachers will give students the opportunity to create their own documentaries and to share their lives through film. Their collective documentaries will be presented at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Of the two new initiatives, the newly appointed Executive Director of the TFI, Beth Janson, said “As citizens of our nation’s cultural capital, New York City students should have the best tools available to unlock their creative potential.” She added that the TFI is happy to use film and the media arts as an educational tool.

Written by: Karen Benardello