With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, AFI’s Behind the Veil project chronicles the groundbreaking short films of storytellers in the early days of American cinema. Integrating film history and analysis, information and media literacy, and media arts production, this curriculum is designed to help young people learn more about film history, specifically the work of filmmakers who have been overlooked by historians because they made shorts rather than features. Additionally, through critical analysis and hands-on production, students will explore how their personal stories can be shared through filmmaking. View curriculum here.

GUIDING QUESTIONS:

• What role did historically overlooked filmmakers have in the development of the motion picture industry and the production of short films during the silent era?

• Why is it important to recognize underrepresented filmmakers?

• What are the common characteristics of the short film format, and how can we tell stories within these parameters?

• How can we explore issues of representation and identity through film?

• How can we use filmmaking to share stories that might otherwise go unheard?
  

Curriculum Design Team:
Jill Beale, Learning Experience Designer
Sarah Blankfort Clothier, Manager, AFI Catalog of Feature Films at American Film Institute
Cynthia Felando, Film Scholar, Author, and Senior Lecturer at UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Film and Media Studies.