Beth Hanlon, OFLA Executive Recorder and Editor of The Cardinal
Spanish Teacher, Oberlin High School

Each August, a handful of my upper-level students come into class demanding to know what day this year we are “going to see movies in Cleveland.” 

Movies in Cleveland?  You don’t know about this amazing experience available from the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF)?  Let me tell you!

CIFF runs a student film slam program.  The short film programs include Animated Cinema, Black Cinema, Cultural Cinema, Chinese Language Cinema, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Accessibility Cinema, Feature Films, French Language Cinema, Inspirational Cinema, German Language Cinema, and Spanish Language Cinema.  Their short film programs include not only world language classroom-appropriate programs but also for other classes and courses offered in our schools! You can find additional information on their website.

As soon as reservations are open for the film slam, I make one for my upper-level students to ensure I secure the date I want. The cost is $5 per student (unless you are coming from a Cleveland Metropolitan or Akron Public School). I know this can be a stretch for some families, so I always stress to my students to speak to me if they need help with their ticket cost.  

CIFF usually takes place in late March or early April.  CIFF posts resources for all the short films for teachers on its website.  We usually spend a few days in class discussing predictions, directors, countries of origin, etc, to prime students for the experience.  Upon returning, we discuss their favorite films, the accuracy of their predictions, cultural perspectives, products, and practices, etc.

On the day of our field trip, we pile onto the bus and head to the Allen Theater at Playhouse Square!  When I began taking students to CIFF in 2016, it was held at the movie theater at Tower City. However, it has been moved to Playhouse Square within the last few years.  

The program begins promptly at 9:45am and lasts until approximately 11:15-11:30am.  Occasionally CIFF brings in a director from one of the films to speak to students or there is a professor from Cleveland State who leads a Spanglish Q&A session with students about the films they just viewed.

We viewed five short films from Mexico, Colombia, and the United States this year.  This year’s films contained two documentaries focusing on the effects of immigration in the United States and for the families of those who immigrate;  a powerful film about the slave trade that involuntarily brought millions of enslaved Africans to Mexico; a film that combined elements of “Alice in Wonderland” with the emotions of immigration; and a heart wrenching film about the effects of losing a parent to cancer.  

Through the years, we have viewed films varying from a minute to thirty minutes.  We have seen horror films, comedies, animated films, etc.  It just depends on what CIFF offers each year!  

After the films, we used to have lunch in the Tower City food court.  With the change in venue, we stopped on the way back at a local Chipotle and Panera and then returned to school.

I can not express how amazing the CIFF Student Film Slam is!  It is a bargain at $5 a student, it brings culture and language to life, it sometimes brings students to Cleveland and/or Playhouse Square for the first time, they provide quality teacher resources, and it just gives us so much to discuss in class before and after the experience.
If you need any assistance making the CIFF Film Slam a much-anticipated field trip by your students, please do not hesitate to contact me at bhanlon@oberlinschools.net.