During the annual Film Festival, HamptonsFilm welcomes nearly 1000 local, middle, and high school students to participate in the annual film festival to view short films made by international youth on diversity, migration, inclusion and human rights. Students are further engaged with a post-screening Q&A session with attending filmmakers and educators.
The short films are made by international youth. Most of the films are chosen in conjunction with the Plural+ International Film Festival, a joint venture of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the International Organization for Migration.
Participants in this program include East Hampton Middle School students, whose teachers have expertly integrated this program into their yearly 7th grade curriculum. Their students use the Plural+ films they see at HIFF as inspiration for their own films about diversity, tolerance, migration and inclusion. Four times a year, some of the student films are screened in school for other middle schoolers and for elementary school students at our “Compassion, Justice and Animal Rights” in-school screenings.
“It is part of our mission to enlighten our audiences with issues happening both worldwide and within our own backyards. The art of film has always been a catalyst in change for a better world and understanding the human condition, and these films provide the basis for open discussion, plus informative curricula for the classroom.” — Anne Chaisson, HIFF Executive Director
