STUDENTS

Each year, during our January festival, we host four days of student programming, called Movies that Matter. Movies that Matter brings award-winning documentary films to Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) students. During the four days of Movies that Matter, we host eight education programs and a virtual program for over 11,000 students. After the documentary films, personalities from the films join students for Q & A sessions. We provide customized educational materials, in support of the films, that can be used in the classroom before and after screenings. The materials, developed by Mountainfilm's education consultant, include interviews with filmmakers, suggested talking points, discussion topics and links to additional reading materials and films. The materials are free and made available online for teachers.

 

As a follow up to Movies that Matter, we organize and manage a mentoring program every spring. In collaboration with Savannah Film Academy (SFA) and SCCPSS staff, we select five local public high school students who are interested in pursuing a degree in filmmaking and pair them with five SFA students for a three-month mentoring program. We also award a college scholarship to high school seniors who plan to pursue an advanced degree in filmmaking. 

 

Our goal is to inspire these students and to instill in them a sense of open-mindedness, self-awareness and regard for their community and the world. If Movies that Matter can make a difference in just one student's life, we regard it as a complete success.

 

Mountainfilm visits over 200 + cities across the world, and Mountainfilm on Tour Savannah is widely acknowledged as the leading tour city of educational outreach in the United States. 

 

Movies that Matter is supported by major entities in Savannah: Gulfstream, SCCPSS, Publix Supermarket Charities, Enmarket, J.C. Lewis Foundation, The Hodge Foundation and Colonial Foundation. And we are proud of their support. They believe, as we do, that together we can make a difference in the lives of Savannah's students. And by impacting their lives, we will begin to see real change in our city and our community.

 

Please contact Leslie Carey for information about including your school and students!