Media education is a hot topic within national governments and educational institutions alike. Big words like new citizenship, empowerment and media literacy are used to convince us of its necessity. But what do filmmakers have to say? Until now they have remained surprisingly silent on the subject. During the upcoming International Film Festival Rotterdam, the international conference ‘How to Stimulate Filmsense(s)’, taking place on Wednesday January 30, 2008 is the place for them to speak out.

How to Stimulate Filmsense(s)
What can media education do for filmmakers, their work or their audience? How can media education influence film and filmmaking. Is it important to understand film? Do governments need to involve filmmakers in media education policies?
With this conference the International Film Festival Rotterdam, together with the Dutch Institute for Film Education (NIF), wants to actively support the international expertise on film and media education by bringing together independent filmmakers, film producers, film institutes and governments.
The input of everyone attending the conference should lead towards a statement about the involvement and cooperation of film makers, the media industry and educational organizations in the reshaping and further development of media education around the world.

Conference themes
During the programme three main themes will be addressed:
• The effects of digital democratization on media education and filmmakers.
• Filmmakers’ influence on media education and the effect of education on the practice of filmmaking.
• Involving new generations through film making initiatives, film schools and talent development.
Conference Programme
The Conference programme includes plenary sessions, workshops and panels. Conference moderator is Gabriel McIntyre, a European authority on the subject of video blogging who teaches about new media at the College of Arts for the City of Utrecht, The Netherlands.

10.00 Registration and coffee

10.45 Welcome by Rutger Wolfson, Director of the 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam
11.00 Keynote 1: Gregory Paulger, Director of the Directorate-General 'Information Society and Media': “Presentation of The European Committee’s communication on Media Literacy”
11.25 Keynote 2: Anna van Someren, Creative Manager for the New Media Literacies project at MIT's Comparative Media Studies, USA: “Exploring New Media Literacies: The Challenges and Promises of Participatory Culture”
12.00 First session of participatory workshops and panels with a.o.: Patricia Lange (Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Cinematic Arts at the university of Southern California, USA), the Dutch Directors Guild and a panel of international film makers and Janine Prins (a Dutch independent filmmaker and arts educator)

13.00 Lunch
14.00 Second session of participatory workshops and Panels with a.o. Anna van Someren (see above), Recoder & Gibson (who make collaborative performances and installations and whose work is part of the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art (NY), the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid) and the Museum of Contemporary Cinema Foundation (Paris) and Daniel Lundquist (Swedish editor, mentor coordinator, editor-in-chief and evaluation coordinator of Dvoted.net)

15.00 Discussion

15.45 Closing Manifesto

16.00-17.00 Drinks

For the full programme, speakers, background, registration: www.filmsenses.com

Practical information
The conference will take place during the 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam
Date: Wednesday 30th of January 2008
Time: 10.00AM - 17.00PM
Conference Venue: Congress Centre de Doelen in Rotterdam, Willem Burger Zaal, The Netherlands.