You’ve sat in classrooms and felt the life drain out of you as the lesson drags on, second by boring second, and the only exciting moment is when the bell finally rings for the end of class. You’ve also sat in cinemas and felt the thrill of being drawn into a well-crafted movie, which whisks you off on a journey of laughter, or insight, or compelling visual storytelling.

What if the buzz of the movie theatre could replace the drag of the classroom? What if you had the power to make learning exactly what you would want it to be?

Well, now you do! Bigfoot Studios is partnering with ChinesePod, a global leader in language-learning and liberating, forward-thinking education, to harness the power of film and entertainment to breathe new life into learning.

This year Edutain Micro Film Festival is thrilled to be partnering with the 48-hour Film Festival. Edutain is one of very few festivals in the world where you don’t have to be a professional to submit a film – we welcome any and all filmmakers, amateur or otherwise. You don’t need expensive equipment either – your smartphone and some online video-editing software are all the help you need to bring the most important part – your vision – to life.

Edutain invites short (2-10 minute) films that focus on two main areas of education – language-learning (both English and Chinese), and the natural sciences. These categories are way broader than they sound! You can take any approach that you find interesting or fun. You might want to focus on the cultural aspect of language- learning, and the hilarious mistakes that can come along when a Chinese learner accidentally swaps their tones and calls someone’s mom a horse, or an English learner accidentally tells someone that they are “boring” rather than “bored”! Your videos about science might cover home science projects, environmental awareness, climate-change, biology, chemistry, physics, or even astronomy. You could teach concepts and ideas to your audience using any lesson format you think is better than the traditional ways of teaching. You can even animate it for any science fiction lessons ... the possibilities are endless!!!

The nitty-gritty details of the Edutain Micro Film Festival:

• All submissions should be 2-10 minutes long – no more, no less
• Theme: “The World Is My Classroom” - what new ways to learning can you come up with?
• All films should be educational and creative, and aim to teach either language or science
• You are welcome to enter more than one submission (regular deadline: US$10 / NT$300 per entry, late deadline: US$20 / NT$600 per entry)
• There are separate entry categories for students, amateurs and professionals
• Cash prizes for the winners in each category, as well as an opportunity to showcase their works at screenings to be held in Taiwan later in the year
• Video Format: MP4, HD 1920x1080/30p,16:9, with English subtitles
• Find us at https://filmfreeway.com/EdutainMicroFilmFestival
• We will be holding four weekend workshops in Taipei: August 10th, August 24th, September 9th, and September 21st. Bring your questions. To sign up, send an e-mail: edutainfestival@gmail.com.