Beyond the screen: understanding the territory through contemporary art and cinema is a project aimed at teachers and students of the I.C. Statale Pirandello in the Isolotto district of Florence. The project enhances critical knowledge of audiovisuals, broadening the educational offer, and provides skills in writing, producing and editing a short film through workshop methodologies and innovative content.
Due to the topics covered, the project lends itself transversally to all subjects of study and as a useful teaching support for civic education, as well as for artistic and historical-artistic disciplines. 

The project includes several actions aimed at teachers and students: Too see in order to teach, a training course on cinema for teachers; Children film their game, a workshop for pupils in classes IV and V of the primary school; Imaginary guide to Isolotto, a workshop for pupils in classes III of the secondary school.

The project ends with an exhibition open to the public where the videos and photographic documentation of the workshops will be displayed.

The project is realised within the framework of the Piano Nazionale Cinema e Immagini per la Scuola promoted by MiC e MI.
Moreover, the action Guida immaginaria dell’Isolotto has received a contribution from Fondazione CR Firenze in the framework of “PARTECIPAZIONE CULTURALE”, the thematic Call for Proposals that the Foundation dedicates to the support of cultural programmes aimed at enhancing the active participation of the local community and the social inclusion of the suburbs.

TOO SEE IN ORDER TO TEACH

A training course for primary and secondary school teachers at the I.C. Statale Pirandello aimed at fostering the ability to critically read the language of film. The course will be held by the expert trainer of visual education Milo Adami, who will provide the basic tools on how a film is constructed and realised and on the practice of moving images in contemporary art. The course is preparatory for the teachers’ coordination of the two subsequent workshops aimed at students. The lectures by Milo Adami will be followed by two meetings held by Lo schermo dell’arte.

The Toolbox – Too see in order to teach is accessible with a private password by clicking here: LINK
Content for teachers:
– lecture recordings
– PDF presentations of lectures
– links for viewing films
– bibliography and sitography on art cinema and art documentaries

Thursday 27 October
The origins of cinema, an interdisciplinary teaching unit

Thursday 3 November
Cinema as an inner/outer narrative, an active tool, some case studies

Thursday 10 November
The cinema narrating the school / a story in images

Thursday 17 November
Cinema and online archives / didactic and creative reuses

Thursday 24 November
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Silvia Lucchesi, Cinema and visual arts

Thursday 1 December
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Valeria Mancinelli, Moving images as contemporary art practice

Milo Adami is a filmmaker and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and ISIA in Urbino. He holds a PhD in Performing Arts from La Sapienza University in Rome. In recent years, his research has been oriented towards a historical overview of the relationship between art and the moving image.

CHILDREN FILM THEIR GAME

Educational workshop involving classes VA Locchi, VB Locchi, VA Calvino, V Ambrosoli, IV Ambrosoli of I.C. Statale Pirandello primary school. The workshop is held by artist Maria Pecchioli and provides writing, development and filming skills for the production of a short film on the theme of the game.

The workshop includes a classroom screening of the audiovisual work Children’s Game by artist Francis Alÿs, presented at the Belgian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale 2022. The work consists of 33 videos on the relationship between children and their ways of playing in areas of the Global South, from Mexico to Iraqi refugee camps. 

The artist will meet the students and teachers to set up the workshop on the script and storyboard of a short film on the theme of the game as rediscovery of the territory. At the end of the cycle of lessons, the artist will coordinate the students in the shooting phase of the short film and will edit it.

The Toolbox – Children film their game is accessible with a private password by clicking here: LINK
Content for teachers:
– video tutorials and PDF handouts with basic directing, filming and editing techniques
– TED video lectures on storytelling
Content for students:
– excerpts from artists’ films on the theme of the game
– simplified tutorials on storyboard design techniques, framing, directing

The calendar with the contents and dates of the workshop can be found at this LINK.

Maria Pecchioli (Florence, 1977) is an artist and filmmaker who works with different languages and media: filmmaking, performance and workshops. She is co-founder and member of the artistic-curatorial duo Radical Intention (2009), the collective Fosca (2006) and manager of the interdisciplinary residency space Corniolo Art Platform (since 2010). He teaches Design, Decoration Techniques and Technologies, NABA Rome. In 2014 she made the film Lei disse si – Just say yes that won Jury Award and Public Award, Biografilm festival Bologna (2014) and the Gender Film Festival, Rome, Public Award (2015).

IMAGINARY GUIDE TO Isolotto

A workshop aimed at the third grade secondary school classes of the I.C. Statale Pirandello organised by artists Roberto Fassone and Giacomo Raffaelli. It will provide learning tools for the production of a short film (writing, production and post-production), and will enable the students to deepen their knowledge of their neighbourhood and creatively inhabit it.

The workshop creatively develops the interview format. The students are asked questions about the neighbourhood they live in, about their daily lives, but also about their preferences, dreams and wishes. The answers to the questions do not take place in written or spoken form, but through the creation of videos filmed in the neighbourhood and edited with open access web materials. The students are then invited to work in groups for the filming and editing.

The Toolbox – Imaginary guide to Isolotto is accessible with a private password by clicking here: LINK
Content for teachers: 
– book sheet H. U. Obrist and H. P. Feldmann, Interview by Hans-Peter Feldmann (Walther Konig, 2009)
Content for students:
– extracts from films and videos made with found footage; images from the world of youtubers and digital creators and from copyright free stock image banks
– maps, charts and plans, textual documents and iconographic sources on the Isolotto district (preparatory to urban exploration)
– technical tutorials and handouts with basic directing, filming, editing and post production techniques

Introductory meeting

Tuesday 31 January, 9:00 – 11:00 and 12:00 – 14:00

Video shooting workshop

Wednesday 8 February, 9:00 – 13:00
Friday 10 February, 9:00 – 13:00
Thursday 16 February, 9:00 – 13:00
Friday 17 February, 9:00 – 13:00

Video Editing Workshop

Monday 13 March, 9:00 – 13:00
Tuesday 14 March, 8:00 – 12:00
Thursday 30 March, 9:00 – 13:00
Friday 31 March, 10:00 – 14:00

Roberto Fassone (Savigliano, IT, 1986) lives and works in Florence. In the last years he exhibited and performed his work in national and international venues. Among these: Ars Electronica (2022, Linz, AU); Vision du Rèel (2022, Nyon, CH); 25th Gabrovo Biennial of Humor & Satire in Art (2022, Gabrovo, BG); Lo schermo dell’arte (2021, Florence, IT); Istituto Italiano di Cultura (2021, Paris, FR); Fanta-MLN (2019, Milan, IT); MAMbo (2018, Bologna, IT). He teaches at the Istituto Marangoni Firenze. He realises workshops for museums (Centro Pecci Prato; HangarBicocca Milan; OGR Turin; ZKM Karlsruhe), cultural institutions, companies and universities (ISD Dusseldorf; MADE Program Syracuse). He is the founder of the publishing house Roi de Coupe. 

Giacomo Raffaelli (Rovereto, 1988) is a visual artist and researcher. He initially trained in the visual arts, graduating in Fine Art Photography at Camberwell College of Arts, London, later specialising in political science at the Experimental Program in Arts and Politics at Sciences Po, Paris. He has presented his works at Italian and international museums and institutions, including institutions and festivals such as: MART, Galleria Civica di Trento, Viafarini DOCVA, Centrale Fies, Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana, South London Gallery, Mediterranea 17 – Young Artists Biennale. He is also involved in education in the arts and environmental humanities. He has lectured and participated in conferences at Chelsea College of Arts, CCW Graduate School, Cité Internationale des Arts, Trinity College Dublin, University of Glasgow and Istituto Marangoni Firenze. In 2014 he participated in the 3rd edition of the project promoted by Lo schermo dell’arte VISIO European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images, and since 2016 he has been producing for Lo schermo dell’arte the video interviews with the Festival guests. 

EXHIBITION

The project will have its concluding moment in an exhibition where the videos made by the students will be screened, accompanied by a selection of photos documenting the project. The 3-week exhibition will be held at the Galleria Isolotto, a space managed by the Centro Nazionale di Produzione per la danza Virgilio Sieni. The exhibition represents a moment of collective fruition of the results open to the citizens of the Florence area.

BEYOND THE SCREEN: UNDERSTANDING THE TERRITORY THROUGH CONTEMPORARY ART AND CINEMA
is realised with the contribution of:

in collaboration with:

  • I.C. Statale Pirandello – Florence
  • Centro Nazionale di Produzione per la danza Virgilio Sieni
  • Quartiere 4 Comune di Firenze