To prepare girls and boys to express themselves with images

The International Educational Film Festival (MICE), in its third edition as a festival in Cuba, takes place for the first time in the city of Holguín. Its creator and promoter, the Valencian educator Josef Arbiol, told Granma newspaper that the smooth running of the event is due to institutional support, above all, from the Ministries of Education and Culture in the country.

«MICE is not a typical cinema event; most of the movies are made by girls and boys. We intend to introduce audiovisual education in the classroom, just as the students learn to read and write. It is ridiculous not to bet on that teaching. We are in the digital age and there is a lot of access to mobile phones and cameras. But it is not enough to have them; you have to know how to use them.

«The objective of our collaboration with the Cuban institutions is that their girls and boys learn to express themselves with images”.

When asked if MICE intends to mitigate the media manipulation that also targets infants, he asserts that, in a world dominated by direct information that does not make them reflect, the codes must be transmitted to them so that they learn to find the truth.

Ivonne Sánchez, organizer of the MICE in Cuba, commented that the festival is important to place audiovisual education in the formal context of schools, because although there are many materials made by children, they are the result of community projects among which stand out those developed in the coastal town of Gibara, in Holguín province.

Referring to the projections of foreign films, including the feature films Dreams are like wild tigers (Germany), The Day I Resisted (Argentina) and Mironis (Catalonia), he specified that the intention is to show Cuban children that with technology available and creativity it is possible to make quality audiovisuals, with teachings and denunciations of problems.

The event also includes workshops on design for 3D printing and robotic design, with the collaboration of visiting Spanish teachers and specialists from Desof and Anima Animation Studios from Holguín.

Until Friday the 31st, activities planned include the meeting with La Luz publishing house, which will present its experiences as a promoter of educational audiovisuals through literature; the presentation of the photo exhibition “Humedales”, by Voces del Audiovisual de Gibara community project, and the presentation of experiences about working with robotic design and 3D printing. (Source: Granma)