FILM ARTS FORUM
SFFS Film Arts Forum: Sundance Confidential
Monday, December 7, 7:30 pm (7:00 pm door)
Monday, December 7, 7:30 pm (7:00 pm door)
KINOTEK
Catherine Galasso: Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice
December 12–13, 8:00 pm
December 12–13, 8:00 pm
SF360 FILM+CLUB
Steven Severin: Music for Silents
Tuesday, January 12, doors 7:00 pm, show 8:00 pm
Tuesday, January 12, doors 7:00 pm, show 8:00 pm
Releases
San Francisco Film Society Names Joanne Parsont to New Director of Education Position
Media Education Specialist Increases Her Role to Oversee Expansion and Development of Fully Integrated Youth, College and Filmmaker Education Programs
9/8/2009
The San Francisco Film Society today announces the appointment of Joanne Parsont to the newly created position of director of education.
Since 2007, Parsont has worked as a year-round consultant to the Film Society’s youth education program helping to expand its year-round outreach efforts in the Bay Area educational community. In her new role she will spearhead the organization’s integration of the services and constituencies of its current youth education and filmmaker education programs with a developing colleges and universities program (CUP). The combined programs will complement one another, while offering a wealth and diversity of educational opportunities for students, teachers, professionals and film enthusiasts of all ages.
“We’re very excited that Joanne has joined us to further define and lead the growth of our education efforts,” said Graham Leggat, SFFS executive director. “She will oversee the planning and development of what we hope will become a comprehensive media education institute serving multiple constituencies including students, teachers, filmmakers and cinephiles in the Bay Area and beyond.”
The Film Society’s commitment to educational outreach and film literacy goes back nearly two decades to the birth of the Schools at the Festival program, founded in 1991 by retired teacher Robert Donn. One of the first and largest programs of its kind, Schools at the Festival created a connection between the San Francisco International Film Festival and the local educational community, providing K–12 students the opportunity to participate in the Festival. In 2004, the organization launched a year-round youth education program, which offers film screenings, media presentations, interactive discussions, filmmaker visits, study guides and professional development to Bay Area students, teachers and schools of all grade levels and curricula. To date the youth education program has served more than 40,000 Bay Area school children and 2,500 teachers from more than 250 educational institutions.
In August 2008, following an agreement with the now-closed Film Arts Foundation, SFFS launched a comprehensive triquarterly filmmaker education program. A full slate of classes and workshops addressing both the business and artistic aspects of filmmaking are offered each semester, designed to foster creativity, inspire cinema appreciation and further the careers of independent filmmakers. This spring, the SFFS colleges and universities program (CUP) was initiated, and outreach is currently underway to develop links to the region’s higher education community, to create bridges for students between school and the film industry.
As the three programs coalesce, the education department will be piloting several new initiatives over the next few years. Potential offerings include online classes, curricula and webinars; artists-in-residence programs; filmmakers-in-schools programs; professional development workshops for K-12 teachers; an educational media lending library; media literacy classes for youth; youth exchange programs; and youth internships.
Ultimately, the department will be working towards a year-round schedule of classes serving a broad range of ages and skill levels. The curriculum will serve youth (ages 8–18), college students, adults (continuing education), teachers (professional development) and filmmaking professionals (skills enhancement) in numerous subject areas, including: screenwriting, documentary, criticism, digital and new media, media literacy, film appreciation and production.
“After more than 12 years helping to nurture and cultivate the Film Society’s education program from its beginnings as a small, two-week Schools at the Festival program,” said Parsont, “I’m really thrilled to be given this opportunity to shepherd the education department into a new era and reach even more individuals and communities with our programs. At a time when the creation of film and media has become so accessible, but the rules of media engagement so changeable, we’re excited to be providing a whole trove of dynamic and diverse educational resources for people of all ages and skill levels to fully engage with film.”
Parsont has worked in the Bay Area film community for 15 years as a film programmer, writer, editor, consultant, project manager and media educator, specializing in outreach, education, youth media, children’s and documentary programming. After a year running the National Media Education Network’s annual competition, she spent eight years directing the Mill Valley Film Festival’s (MVFF) Children’s FilmFest and managing the San Francisco International Film Festival’s (SFIFF) Schools at the Festival program, and five years curating children’s programs for the Pacific Film Archive and the Boston Museum of Fine Art. As a freelance programmer, she continued to curate shorts, feature and documentary programs for MVFF, SFIFF and SF IndieFest and served on the Board of Advisors for LUNAFest, a national traveling festival of films by, for and about women. Parsont has a bachelor’s degree in Russian and political science from Duke University and a master’s degree in mass communication studies from the University of Michigan. She worked in Washington, D.C. for both the Public Broadcasting Service and the Learning Channel before arriving in the Bay Area in 1994.
San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to celebrating film and the moving image in all its glorious forms. SFFS year-round programs and events are concentrated in four core areas: Celebrating Internationalism, Inspiring Bay Area Youth, Showcasing Bay Area Film Culture and Exploring New Digital Media. The Film Society shows the best of world cinema year-round on its SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas; presents the longest-running film festival in the Americas, the SF International (April 22–May 6, 2010); publishes a daily online magazine, SF360.org, featuring broad-ranging news and features on Bay Area film and media; annually reaches more than 8,000 students ages 6–18 with its acclaimed media literacy programs; and provides crucial support to the Bay Area filmmaking community through SFFS Filmmaker Services including FilmHouse Residencies, Fiscal Sponsorship, the SFFS/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants, the Herbert Family Filmmaking Grants, the Hearst Screening Grant, the Djerassi/SFFS Screenwriting Fellowship, SFFS Film Arts Forums and professional-level filmmaker classes.
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Since 2007, Parsont has worked as a year-round consultant to the Film Society’s youth education program helping to expand its year-round outreach efforts in the Bay Area educational community. In her new role she will spearhead the organization’s integration of the services and constituencies of its current youth education and filmmaker education programs with a developing colleges and universities program (CUP). The combined programs will complement one another, while offering a wealth and diversity of educational opportunities for students, teachers, professionals and film enthusiasts of all ages.
“We’re very excited that Joanne has joined us to further define and lead the growth of our education efforts,” said Graham Leggat, SFFS executive director. “She will oversee the planning and development of what we hope will become a comprehensive media education institute serving multiple constituencies including students, teachers, filmmakers and cinephiles in the Bay Area and beyond.”
The Film Society’s commitment to educational outreach and film literacy goes back nearly two decades to the birth of the Schools at the Festival program, founded in 1991 by retired teacher Robert Donn. One of the first and largest programs of its kind, Schools at the Festival created a connection between the San Francisco International Film Festival and the local educational community, providing K–12 students the opportunity to participate in the Festival. In 2004, the organization launched a year-round youth education program, which offers film screenings, media presentations, interactive discussions, filmmaker visits, study guides and professional development to Bay Area students, teachers and schools of all grade levels and curricula. To date the youth education program has served more than 40,000 Bay Area school children and 2,500 teachers from more than 250 educational institutions.
In August 2008, following an agreement with the now-closed Film Arts Foundation, SFFS launched a comprehensive triquarterly filmmaker education program. A full slate of classes and workshops addressing both the business and artistic aspects of filmmaking are offered each semester, designed to foster creativity, inspire cinema appreciation and further the careers of independent filmmakers. This spring, the SFFS colleges and universities program (CUP) was initiated, and outreach is currently underway to develop links to the region’s higher education community, to create bridges for students between school and the film industry.
As the three programs coalesce, the education department will be piloting several new initiatives over the next few years. Potential offerings include online classes, curricula and webinars; artists-in-residence programs; filmmakers-in-schools programs; professional development workshops for K-12 teachers; an educational media lending library; media literacy classes for youth; youth exchange programs; and youth internships.
Ultimately, the department will be working towards a year-round schedule of classes serving a broad range of ages and skill levels. The curriculum will serve youth (ages 8–18), college students, adults (continuing education), teachers (professional development) and filmmaking professionals (skills enhancement) in numerous subject areas, including: screenwriting, documentary, criticism, digital and new media, media literacy, film appreciation and production.
“After more than 12 years helping to nurture and cultivate the Film Society’s education program from its beginnings as a small, two-week Schools at the Festival program,” said Parsont, “I’m really thrilled to be given this opportunity to shepherd the education department into a new era and reach even more individuals and communities with our programs. At a time when the creation of film and media has become so accessible, but the rules of media engagement so changeable, we’re excited to be providing a whole trove of dynamic and diverse educational resources for people of all ages and skill levels to fully engage with film.”
Parsont has worked in the Bay Area film community for 15 years as a film programmer, writer, editor, consultant, project manager and media educator, specializing in outreach, education, youth media, children’s and documentary programming. After a year running the National Media Education Network’s annual competition, she spent eight years directing the Mill Valley Film Festival’s (MVFF) Children’s FilmFest and managing the San Francisco International Film Festival’s (SFIFF) Schools at the Festival program, and five years curating children’s programs for the Pacific Film Archive and the Boston Museum of Fine Art. As a freelance programmer, she continued to curate shorts, feature and documentary programs for MVFF, SFIFF and SF IndieFest and served on the Board of Advisors for LUNAFest, a national traveling festival of films by, for and about women. Parsont has a bachelor’s degree in Russian and political science from Duke University and a master’s degree in mass communication studies from the University of Michigan. She worked in Washington, D.C. for both the Public Broadcasting Service and the Learning Channel before arriving in the Bay Area in 1994.
San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to celebrating film and the moving image in all its glorious forms. SFFS year-round programs and events are concentrated in four core areas: Celebrating Internationalism, Inspiring Bay Area Youth, Showcasing Bay Area Film Culture and Exploring New Digital Media. The Film Society shows the best of world cinema year-round on its SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas; presents the longest-running film festival in the Americas, the SF International (April 22–May 6, 2010); publishes a daily online magazine, SF360.org, featuring broad-ranging news and features on Bay Area film and media; annually reaches more than 8,000 students ages 6–18 with its acclaimed media literacy programs; and provides crucial support to the Bay Area filmmaking community through SFFS Filmmaker Services including FilmHouse Residencies, Fiscal Sponsorship, the SFFS/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants, the Herbert Family Filmmaking Grants, the Hearst Screening Grant, the Djerassi/SFFS Screenwriting Fellowship, SFFS Film Arts Forums and professional-level filmmaker classes.
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