ENGAGE & EMPOWER OUR YOUNG PEOPLE
WITH THE TOOLS OF THE SHORT FILM
Our Shortcut Symposium on Tuesday 21 February 2023 was a hugely successful free full-day series of events for post primary educators, community workers and social services organisations in Northern Ireland to engage and explore sensitive and challenging issues which are impacting negatively on the physical and mental health of young people through the films made with funding from the EU Erasmus+ programme.
We screened a three of our Shortcut films - Hydebank, Q&A with director Ross McClean, Joy In People, Q&A with producer Callum Harrison and Black Sheep with film subject Cornelius Walker.
The event included a drama workshop with Bruiser Theatre Company, the screening of Stay Alive plus Q&A session with the film's director Juliet Riddell and poet and writer Clare Dwyer Hogg; a poetry workshop facilitated by staff from MSc Art Psychotherapy at Ulster University; and a Masterclass Panel for Young People featuring Music Video Producer, Callum Harrison and London based Film/TV Director, Cornelius Walker.
If you are interested in learning more about the Shortcut Project you can register and then log in to access the films and lesson plans.
Shortcut - Small Stories, Big Issues is a Film Education Project offering a catalog of European short films on a VOD platform available to all registered educational institutions and students. The films have been selected to combine film education with an engaging thematic framework on topics addressing the problems and issues that young people face on an everyday basis. The films enable the student to engage in a variety of practical lessons with accompanied worksheets. The lessons approach the range topics in a mindful and creative manner, the focus is on developing communication skills and film language in the classroom.