Led by Niki Kohandel and Nia Fekri, this session will present methodologies used by moving-image artists working across schools and educational settings. We will be looking at short films produced through collaborations with young people in classrooms, as well as sharing learnings and exercises that activate alternative modes of thinking through film. This workshop is aimed at educators, teachers, artists, filmmakers, anyone with an interest in creative learning and pedagogy.

Nia Fekri is Iranian-British multidisciplinary artist and facilitator, working across text, spoken word performance and moving image. Her work deals with experiences of illness, grief and familial intimacy within migrant communities, with a recent research focus on how somatic practices can facilitate radical intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange in relation to shared socio-political histories. Her projects function as collective digestive processes, where the creation of collaborative spaces for reflection, improvisation and speculation are integral to both the creative process and its outcomes. Notable screenings include Magnum Photos ICA, London Short Film Festival, Barbican Centre, Another Gaze Journal, Whitechapel Gallery, BFI Flare Film Festival and Open City Documentary Film Festival.

michael. (he/him) works across moving image and social practice using research-led methods to explore how social and historical forces shape our experience of space and time. michael.’s practice is grounded in what the artist calls the poetics of Blackness and space, centring slowness as a method of resistance and repair.

Niki Kohandel is an artist, filmmaker and facilitator based in London. Her practice sits in the space between recording and rewriting a story. She works in collaboration with family members, friends and young people, playing with languages, analogue film, childhood memories and colours.  Her films have been shown in screenings and exhibitions at LUX, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, Anthology Film Archives, ICA London and online through Another Screen. Her last shorts were included in programmes as part of the BFI London Film Festival, Istanbul Documentary Days, London Short Film Festival and Aesthetica Short Film Festival amongst others.