The new educational animation programme “And yet… we move!” by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) was met with an unprecedented response! Ιn less than three months, 1,340 teachers and parents from Greece and abroad registered to implement the program with more than 52,000 children.
Following the great success of the Takorama International Film Festival, the online festival of animated short films, whose exclusive partner in Greece for three years was EKOME, the Department of Audiovisual Literacy and Research collaborated again with the French organization Films pour enfants. Together, they offered a collection of animated films for children and adults, freely accessible and without advertisements, and accompanying sheets, created by EKOME, with suggested activities for the classroom and home. The aim was to educate children about images while also making the images an additional educational tool. Watching cartoons can be creative and fun at school and in the family!
The collection includes twelve award-winning short animation films without words, divided into four age categories for children aged 4 to 15. The films poetically and imaginatively approach themes such as family and social relationships, our relationship with technology, fears, diversity, and immigration. The pedagogical material is addressed to teachers and parents, including multimodal references, links, and suggesting activities that invite young and adults to discuss, play, cooperate, move, express themselves, and create! Animation means moving bodies, moving dreams, moving emotions, and moving ideas!
“And yet… we move!” in numbers
A total of 54,046 people participated in the programme, of which 52,706 were children – 50,557 from Greece and 2,149 from 13 countries in America, Africa, Asia, and Europe! The distribution of enrollments in Greece is impressive: the films reached schools of all levels and families in remote villages, islands, and large and small towns in all regions. Outside Greece, the program was utilized in Greek and foreign schools, Greek communities, Greek language departments in universities etc, from San Francisco and Toronto to Imbros, Cyprus, Cairo, and Abu Dhabi.
In “And yet… we move!” participated both kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools (among them second chance, minority, experimental, vocational, evening, intercultural, music, and special schools of all levels), as well as non-governmental organizations, children’s therapeutic counseling centers, university departments, and many more. The animations reached classrooms and homes in every corner of Greece, in cities, villages and islands.
Teacher’s Feedback
Teachers have used the films in various lessons (e.g., Language, History, Computer Science, Social and Civic Education) and in school film clubs, skills workshops, “flexible zones”, etc. 80% used some of the activities or references suggested in the pedagogical sheets and described them as excellent. According to the teachers, the children responded very positively and participated with enthusiasm, interest, joy, and creativity. The impact of the project on the functioning of the classroom or family is also reported as very positive; watching the films and doing the activities engaged children and contributed to reflection, awareness, and empathy. Teachers report that they will use the program in the new year and request its continuation, new digital materials, and related training sessions.
See the report of “And yet… we move!” here.
The Films and the Educational Material
Discover, now without registration, the animations in the specially designed greek section of Films pour enfants and the educational material for teachers and parents. The 12 sheets contain questions for comprehension and expression of thoughts and feelings, as well as suggestions for activities (film/art education, creative and experiential exercises, crafts, role-play, sharing experiences, group collaboration, etc.). A variety of multimodal references and links to literary, visual, audiovisual, and cinematographic works, teaching scenarios, and workshops from educational platforms and digital repositories are also proposed. The material is complemented by a toolbox – list of activities that can be adapted to the classroom and used with any film in different subjects.
View / download the pedagogical material for all the films of “And yet… we move!” here (Greek only)