The week of April 1-7 CGS Koreni organized and ran International English Film Camp. It was the 6th annual camp of this kind run in conjunction with Southeast European University (SEEU). This year three filmmakers joined us – two Americans and one Egyptian. These three experts skillfully helped the participants work in teams to develop short stories and make short films. This year there were over 20 participants, including Albanians, Macedonians, Americans, Japanese, a Czech, and a South Korean. Working in four teams, the groups each wrote a script, acted in, and shot a short film (4-7 minutes in length). Saturday evening was the red carpet premiere event. It was an evening to celebrate our creations on the big screen. Judges presented awards for Best Acting, Writing, Filming and Editing, and the audience voted to determine which group would receive the People’s Choice Award.
The goals of the camp are multi-layered. The obvious goals are for the participants to learn filmmaking skills and improve their English while doing so. More important to CGS Koreni, though, are the less obvious goals. During this camp, we hope that stereotypes are torn down, and instead friendships are built across nationalities. As the people work in groups, they learn about each other, laugh together, and work together to create something bigger and better than they could have on their own. The design of the camp supports and encourages cross-cultural skills and connections, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. These are all skills necessary to thrive in the 21st century. It was a successful week, and as filmmakers would say, “That’s a wrap!”
To view the films, visit Koreni’s YouTube page called “Koreni Education Development”.
Rachelle Neal