SAN DIEGO — As the region prepares for the 24th annual San Diego International Film Festival in October, the festival’s FOCUS on Impact Education Program has been collaborating with area high schools and colleges to bring these films into classrooms as a starting point for meaningful discussions.
This year’s iteration of the critically acclaimed San Diego International Film Festival returns Oct. 15-19, with tickets to screenings going on sale in September. Through its separate education program, SDIFF can share the power of storytelling with the younger generation throughout the year.
The FOCUS on Impact Education Program provides educators with access to a library of selected festival films that shed light on social, environmental, and political issues, accompanied by recorded Q&As with filmmakers and a curated curriculum to spark critical discussion.
FOCUS on Impact also features an art competition for middle and high school artists, providing a platform for them to tell a story about social issues through creative artwork.
Educational institutions currently participating in the program include San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Community College District and the San Diego County Office of Education, where the program is also made available to foster youth and those in Juvenile Court and Community Schools.
SDIFF CEO and Artistic Director Tonya Mantooth said they are seeking to expand the program to other school districts and colleges.
“We want to share it with all students in San Diego County,” Mantooth said. “It integrates and lands with these students in a much more powerful way.”
SDIFF started the program in 2015 and adapted it to provide the virtual film library so it could be accessed by a broader range of students and educators. Festival officials select more films to add to the library each year.
“The library will continue to add more films every year, and we curate those films out of the festival. For a teacher, they will be refreshed with new films constantly, while still retaining the current films that are in there,” Mantooth said.
In the San Diego Unified district, curriculum advisors in the Visual and Performing Arts Department have collaborated with SDIFF to develop a curriculum that teachers can use in the classroom to complement the films in the library.
Shane Schmeichel, senior director of Visual and Performing Arts at San Diego Unified, said the films tell meaningful stories that can be integrated into various subjects within the curriculum.
“There are really good direct links with social science, art, history, ethnic studies … more humanities-based courses tend to be the more direct connection between what the teacher had already been teaching and current events,” Schmeichel said.
The art competition also provides students with an opportunity to work with teachers and develop a piece of their own artwork to tell a story. The winning artwork is featured in the branding and merchandise for the film festival, as well as showcased at an exhibit during the festival. Additionally, students have access to the festival.
The finalists in this year’s competition focused on topics including environmental justice, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, artificial intelligence, and more.
The winner was Matisse Kinney, a ninth-grader at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, with her acrylic painting, “Reaching In,” which highlighted her experience with depression and the hope that can lead one out of it.
Schmeichel said the access to the film library as well as the art competition are invaluable to students.
“Both of these programs help students better understand culture and the place they live, the family they belong to, the world they’re in. Youth have so much to say, and when we give them the opportunity to express in a variety of ways … we understand the value, the impact they can have, and how we can help them become the next leaders of the generation,” Schmeichel said.
Educators interested in joining the FOCUS on Impact Education Program for access to the film library can register online at sdfilmfest.com/education/rsvp.
SDIFF makes the FOCUS on Impact program free for schools. As a result, the program relies heavily on donations and private funding.
For more information about the 2025 San Diego International Film Festival, visit sdfilmfest.com.
