Four new curriculum lessons from the FUTURESTATES series use science fiction to encourage students to imagine possible outcomes of today’s current events. FUTURESTATES is a series of independent mini-features—short narrative films created by experienced filmmakers and emerging talents—that transform today’s complex social issues into visions about what life in America will be like in decades to come.
On Wednesday December 12 at 12pm ET, watch and chat live with others during the social screening of the FUTURESTATES episode Crossover at ovee.itvs.org/screenings/64l61. The film’s co-producer, Debra Wilson, will be joining as a special guest for the discussion.
Crossover depicts the timely ethical dilemma of a mother whose children are trapped in a vastly unequal school system. The corresponding lesson plan, aligned to Common Core standards in Language Arts, asks students to reflect more deeply about the state of our public education system — both in the near future, and today.
According to some research reports and media accounts, American society is facing a growing separation between rich and poor. Many researchers find that this disparity is increasingly reflected in our education system. Student discussion considers the questions: Do all children in the United States have the same opportunities to succeed in life? And to what lengths would parents go in order to give their children the same chances to succeed? Continue reading
Starting tomorrow, ITVS is hosting a series of online film screenings called the Sci-Fi Lunch Break Series. Each Wednesday at 12pm ET, short films from the third season of the acclaimed FUTURESTATES series will be screened through OVEE, ITVS’s social screening platform.
Imagining tomorrow’s America today, FUTURESTATES is a series of independent mini-features, short narrative films created by veteran filmmakers and emerging talents transforming today’s complex social issues into visions about what life will be like in decades to come. In season three, seven filmmakers imagine America in the not-too-distant future, when what we do, where we live, and who we are will all be dictated by the decisions we make today.
How does it work?
Participants can join for free by signing in with Facebook or directly on the site, interacting with other viewers and panelists in real-time, while watching the film. Viewers can comment, ask questions, take polls, and even express their feelings about what they’re watching through a variety of tools on the site. This is an entirely new way of experiencing documentary films and it is inherently social. Continue reading
Directed by Tina Mabry the film will be available to stream for free at futurestates.tv and simultaneously on pbs.org. An online social screening of the short will take place here this Friday, May 4 at 11AM PT / 2PM ET.
In a future where schools are segregated by economic status, a struggling mother must decide whether to sell her own organs to give her children a better education. Learn more about Crossover from filmmaker Tina Mabry in a recently conducted Skype interview, after the jump.