SPACES OF EDUCATION IN FILM FESTIVALETTE CIES 2021

In 2021, the seventh season (or seventh year) of the Comparative& International Education Society’s Film Festivalette, created and funded by the Open Society Foundations Education Program, will showcase two feature-length fiction and six documentary films from around the world that explore the connections between empathy, activism and social responsibility.

It includes award-winning content from the Middle East, North Asia, West Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. While the program reflects a broad understanding of education as an undertaking that goes beyond formal schooling, these films raise questions relevant to teaching empathy and activism including: How can we promote empathy through our pedagogies? How can empathy translate from the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of society? Should educators be activists?

Empathy is critical for a deeper and expanded notion of social responsibility. As empathy develops so does awareness of our interdependence with fellow human and non-human species. There are different types of empathy. One form is cognitive and involves our ability to “put ourselves in another´s shoes”. This is often referred to as perspective-taking. Another form of empathy is affective and involves compassion or feeling with and in others’ joys and sufferings. Deeper more radical forms of empathy spur individuals to take action and advance the welfare of others. In many contexts, a combination of these forms of empathy (cognitive, emotional, radical) is necessary for a deeper and sustainable social responsibility.

Learn more about the selected films in the festival program.