A new Australia-wide online film education program for regional youth
Ready for Nextwave 2020?
Coffs Harbour’s Screenwave International Film Festival (SWIFF) is excited to announce a new national service providing online film and mental health education to young regional Australians.
The program, called Nextwave, has been operating for five years as Australia’s largest regional youth film development program, with the program hosting in-school workshops across NSW, a highly awarded short film competition, and a national Youth Week screenings program.
The Nextwave program has to-date taught over 5000 regional students about filmmaking and facilitated the production of over 200 new short films.
With the on-set of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of life saving social distancing measures, the SWIFF team have made the decision to broaden access to their program (originally set to physically visit over 70 regional NSW schools this winter) to students and teachers across the country by moving the education program online.
Learn it!
“The arts sector is constantly innovating in Australia. As we experience what is the most significant historical event in most peoples’ lives, we saw a real need to equip young regional people with the tools to tell their stories through film – to capture their unique experiences,” said SWIFF Co-Director Kate Howat.
Nextwave’s redesigned workshop program is launching as an interactive, online learning experience to be delivered to regional, rural, and remote students across Australia, with the learning program supported by teachers and home-schooling parents available from June.
Shoot it!
The Nextwave program includes 10 engaging, fun, and educational 15-minute videos that teach how to write, shoot, and edit short films without previous experience, plus video conferencing support for teachers and their students. The aim of the new program is to teach communication skills through filmmaking, using technology that becomes increasingly more accessible, to capture regional youth stories not just around arts, but also across sports, agriculture, health, and science.
“Take one look at your social media feed and it’s easy to see that film is emerging as the communication tool of the future – and almost every young person already has access to the technology in their smart phone or DSLR – we just show them how to use it to help better tell their story,” explains Kate.
Screen it!
The program is designed in consultation with filmmakers working across the Australian film industry and with regional teachers currently seeking remote education programs.
Young regional Australians from across the country can also enter the Nextwave Youth Film Competition, open to youth between the ages of 10 to 25 living in regional areas. The competition is free to enter with submissions open May 1st and films are to creatively include the phrase, “What’s next?”.
The best short films are selected to be screened in front of sell-out crowds that attend the Nextwave Youth Film Awards next January as part of the Screenwave International Film Festival in Coffs Harbour, which takes place 7-22 January 2021.
This new nation-wide learning and education service is offered to all regional councils and schools from mid-May via a 12-month subscription. Participation includes access to: All 10 x 15-minute workshop episodes on how to write, shoot and edit short films, entry into the competition, a full back catalogue of Nextwave short film finalists as a digital resource, plus the Nextwave Youth Week Film Festival – a pre-packaged 2021 Youth Week screening kit complete with the full line-up of all 2020 Nextwave short film finalists – including locally-produced films in each region.
Want to bring Nextwave online workshops to your school? Enquire below and we’ll reach out with more information!
More information on Nextwave’s new national program can be found at www.nextwavefilmfest.com.au
Nextwave is proudly supported by Southern Cross University, the Stronger Country Communities Fund, Create NSW, C.ex Group, Headspace Coffs Harbour, the Regional Arts Fund, Arts Mid North Coast, Blackmagic Design, RODE Microphones, Skullcandy, Afends, and local Councils.