The project also aims to explore emotional education and the conscious use of digital media with the aim of promoting the development of children's personal identity, sensitivity and socialisation skills.
"‘Alice’ is part of the activities of the Salesian Cultural Centre dedicated to education in the image and with the image. We are happy to be able to strengthen our relationship with the schools, which have welcomed our proposal with enthusiasm", reports Fabio Zenadocchio, Director of the Salesian Cultural Centre.
The first phase began on 8 October, dedicated to classroom training: qualified operators introduce young students to the art of cinema through the help of an educational notebook created ad hoc with the guidance of psychologists and child specialists. The meetings involve nine schools between Lazio, Tuscany and Liguria for a total of over 800 students and 90 teachers; and there are four cinemas in Salesian communities made available: the "Cinema Don Bosco" in Rome, the driving force of the initiative, the "Buonarroti" in Civitavecchia, the "Cinema Teatro" of the Salesians in Livorno and the "Club Amici del Cinema" in Genoa.
In the second phase of the project the students will participate in screenings of films and short films designed for the primary school audience and will participate in discussions to explore issues emerging from what they have seen.
Finally, a practical part will follow that will allow children to experience direct learning and explorethe professional dynamics of a real film environment live.
Teachers will also be involved with an image education course taught by a School Visual Education Operator.
Soon, thanks to the project, a platform will be available, accessible from a browser and from an application, to facilitate communication between cinemas and teachers, to promote screenings and training activities aimed at students and facilitate educational collaboration through the film medium.
The Salesian Cultural Centre is a non-profit association based in Rome that operates, in the hear from the perspective of Christian values, in the field of Social Communication, through study, experimentation, promotion, training, organisation and implementation of projects and initiatives relating to culture and art from many perspectives.
