Building on the Arab Film Festival’s history of programming with school-age children, as well as at universities, the Arab Film and Media Institute has expanded its educational programming year round to make its library of films available to a greater number of youth nationwide. Young people from Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern communities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of racial and religious prejudice, and the scarcity of positive images of their heritage in the popular media only exacerbates the problem.

AFMI’s catalog of films presents original, unexpected, and underrepresented stories and voices from the Arab world and the diaspora. The films featured connect students to characters and situations that they can relate to and that help them learn from within the Arab world, through the eyes and ears of contemporary filmmakers.

We work together with teachers and schools to tailor our offering to fit their specific curriculum and logistical needs. We organize individual classroom screenings, as well as school-wide screenings, on or off campus. AFMI provides educators with a guide for contextualizing and discussing each film with their class, and can also arrange for a member of AFMI or other specialist to be on hand to present the film, answer questions and facilitate the discussion.

The Education program at AFMI is dedicated to helping teachers and students gain better understanding and empathy of Arab communities both abroad and at home. If you are an educator interested in bringing Arab films to your classroom, please fill out the form below and we will contact you with more information.