WHO: Are you a social studies, history, media teacher, or just someone looking for exciting content perfect for use in distance OR classroom learning at the middle or high school level? This event is for you!

WHAT: The Second Annual Student History Film Festival is made possible by The Better Angels Society, a non-profit that works with PBS, in partnership with the Library of Congress, National History Day and the American history documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns. It features the Next Generation Angels 2020 Award-winners: six middle and high school documentary filmmakers selected by National History Day for excellence in Individual Documentary history filmmaking.  This two hour long virtual festival, introduced by Ken Burns himself, includes the screening of their 6 student films and a live student panel discussion moderated by the Library of Congress’s Mike Mashon. Students participating in the audience will not be visible, and the questions they ask via the chat function will be visible only to the moderator.

WHY: All middle and high school students and their teachers can find inspiration and lessons in courage, learn research and media skills, and enjoy the compelling, entertaining American history documentary student films screening at this event. The student filmmakers will be the panelists, and they will take questions from the students in the audience, making for fun, engaging, peer-to-peer teaching in the virtual space.

WHEN: Wednesday October 28, 2020 | 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EDT. 

HOW: All teachers, including those who homeschool, are invited to register their classes and students. Click on the link here to register, and a link will be provided for to share with the participating students at home. Teachers in a classroom setting can stream the event.

The Student History Documentary Film Festival is an online event where the 2020 Next Generation Angels Award Winners will be given the opportunity to present their prize-winning films in front of a national audience of students and educators from across the country through a live-streamed screening online event. Each film will be screened followed by a Q&A session moderated by the Library of Congress’ Mike Mashon, who directs the Moving Image Section at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation.

This event will give educators an opportunity to let their students learn first-hand how other students made high-quality historical documentaries and how documentary filmmaking can be a fun, engaging and active learning tool to enrich their understanding of American history. Students will get the chance to ask questions of the prize winners to understand their interests in documentary filmmaking and their creative process, ensuring that everyone participating gets a deeper appreciation of how important this art form is to education.