CinEd Teacher Training: Film Heritage as a Foundation for the Film and Media Education Future

Have you ever considered what goes unnoticed while watching a film, a TV show, or playing video games – and how film can be used as a tool that encourages creativity, reflection, and learning? Join us and discover how the history of cinema can become a valuable educational resource, requiring no prior knowledge -just openness to new perspectives.

The Shadow Casters Association invites all education professionals to a two-day professional workshop that will reveal how film heritage can serve as a foundation for the future of film and media education. Through simple and practical examples, the workshop will show how cinematic legacy can be used as a powerful educational tool – without the need for specialized equipment or technical knowledge. The workshop is intended for teachers ready to explore and implement visually engaging, alternative methods into their pedagogical practice.

Date & Time: August 29–30, 2025, 9 AM–2 PM

Locations: City of Zagreb Analog Film Archive + Pogon – Center for Independent Culture and Youth, Mislavova 18

Facilitators: Bojana Burnać (Croatia) & Sébastien Ronceray (France)

Languages: English and Croatian

Registration required! (Limited capacity)

Applications and more info: maja@bacaci-sjenki.hr

Organized by Shadow Casters as part of the European CinEd program, this two-day workshop for teachers titled ” Film Heritage as a Foundation for the Film and Media Education Future” focuses on the creative use of analog and experimental film and its application in educational contexts.

Conceived as a theoretical and practical encounter with analog film, the workshop will equip teachers with tools, knowledge, and inspiration to use filmmaking as a teaching tool in the classroom. The starting point of the workshop will be educational and so-called “element-films” — short instructional films used in schools during the mid-20th century. These films are preserved at the Analog Film Archive of the Republic of Croatia – Croatian Cinematheque, which participants will visit on the first day. During the visit, participants will view several short films, including Ponornice i vrulje (Subterranean Rivers and Springs) by renowned Croatian director Mate Relja (Train in the Snow) and collaborators: screenwriter Marijan Šašek, cinematographer Stjepan Katušić, editor Nevenka Vranarčić, animators Dušan Vukotić and Vladimir Đurak, and special effects cinematographer Ernest Gregl.

The first workshop day includes a field visit to the archive, an introduction to film heritage preservation practices, and a screening of selected short educational films. With expert guidance, participants will analyse the films’ structure, content, and explore how they might be used in contemporary classrooms.

The second day will be fully dedicated to hands-on work. Participants will engage in a series of simple exercises to explore the basic principles of film language and experiment with analog film strips.

The workshop will be led by renowned film educators and analog film experts: French film pedagogue, curator, and experimental filmmaker Sébastien Ronceray, and Croatian film director and cinematographer Bojana Burnać, with Juraj Kukoč, Senior Film Archivist, serving as the host at the Croatian Cinematheque. 

Sébastien Ronceray is a French filmmaker, educator, curator, and researcher specializing in experimental and analog film. As a workshop leader and educational program developer, he is deeply committed to raising awareness about film as an art form. He has collaborated with numerous cultural and educational institutions, notably with La Cinémathèque française. He lectures at various universities in Paris and is the author of numerous academic and professional publications.

To support the development of experimental cinema, Ronceray founded the Braquage collective in 2000. His creative work includes experimental films, performances, and installations, often using analog aesthetics, recycled film materials, and manual shooting, developing, and editing techniques. This is his second collaboration with Shadow Casters.

Bojana Burnać is an award-winning Croatian film director and cinematographer, known as the first female cinematographer of a feature-length fiction film in Croatian cinema history. She holds a Master’s degree in Cinematography from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. Her work spans fiction, documentary, and experimental films, with a special focus on underwater cinematography. Her directorial debut, the documentary My Life Without Air, premiered at Hot Docs (Toronto) and won Best Debut at Dokufest. A passionate freediver, speleologist, and mountaineer, her work reflects a deep engagement with the limits of the human body and mind. Since 2016, she has led beginner, advanced, and master-level film workshops for the Frooom! film school and the 54+ “Only the Sky is the Limit” program, as well as film-heritage education projects with Shadow Casters.

Juraj Kukoč, Senior Film Archivist at the Croatian Film Archive, will host the workshop at the Cinematheque. He regularly publishes articles in Croatian Film Chronicle and has contributed to various publications, including Zarez, Vijenac, Večernji list, and Croatian Radio. He was the editor of film entries in the General and National Encyclopedia and still collaborates with the Tuškanac cinema on Croatian film programming. He has participated in many film festivals.

No prior experience with analog film is required. The program is designed for educators interested in expanding their teaching practices through film. The workshop is free of charge, and all educational materials and equipment will be provided.

The workshop is organized by Shadow Casters as part of the European project CinEd 2.1, with support from Creative Europe – MEDIA, HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre), City of Zagreb – Department of Culture and Civil Society, and the Office for NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.

CinEd je europski obrazovni program namijenjen učiteljima, profesorima, edukatorima te zainteresiranim profesionalcima i građanima za podučavanje djece, mladih o filmskoj pismenosti od 2015. godine. Program omogućuje besplatan pristup pažljivo odabranim europskim filmovima i pratećim pedagoškim materijalima (na platformi: https://www.cined.eu). U Hrvatskoj ga od 2019. godine provodi udruga Bacači sjenki, koja kroz CinEd organizira projekcije, radionice i edukacije za učenike, nastavnike i filmske pedagoge. Njihov rad povezuje suvremene obrazovne metode s filmskom umjetnošću, naglašavajući kreativno razmišljanje, analizu slike i aktivno sudjelovanje u kulturi gledanja.

Shadow Casters (Bacači sjenki) is a multi-award-winning artistic and production platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, intermedia arts, and cultural reflection. They successfully integrate filmmaking, international cooperation, theatre performances, urban art interventions, activism, pedagogy, video art, and curatorial practices into a holistic creative practice.

Support for the project/workshop: HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre), City of Zagreb – Department for Culture and Civil Society
Support for Shadow Casters: City of Zagreb – Department for Culture and Civil Society, National Foundation for Civil Society Development, Kultura Nova Foundation, HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre)