CLASSROOM TO CINEMA

Classroom to Cinema invites classrooms from across the Bay Area to celebrate Cultural Heritage Months through free screenings of powerful, independent films. Each screening is paired with stories that spark conversation, broaden perspectives, and connect directly to the cultural moments we honor.

We are unable to provide free transportation to school groups for this program at the moment. However, we do encourage school groups to look into public transportation like SMART Train and Marin Transit buses. Youth ride for free.

This semester, we’re proud to feature…

WATCH TRAILER

FARMING WHILE BLACK
MONDAY, FEB. 23 • 11:00 AM – 12:25 PM
SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER
GRADES 6-12

SCREENING + VIRTUAL Q&A WITH DIRECTOR MARK DECENA

ABOUT THE FILM

In 1910, Black farmers owned 14% of all American farmland. Over the intervening decades, that number fell to 2%, the result of racism, discrimination, and dispossession. Director Mark Decena adapts Leah Penniman’s 2018 book into a visually eloquent documentary that chronicles Penniman and two other Black farmers’ efforts to reclaim their agricultural heritage.

Collectively, their work has a major impact, as each is a leader in sustainable agriculture and food justice movements. Decena outlines their contributions to regenerative agricultural practices, his watchful camera following the trio as they grow food, build community, advocate for themselves, repair the wounds of the past, and create a prosperous future. A rich guide to a world of activists, storytellers, healers, and change-makers, Farming While Black manifests alternate visions of humanity’s relationship to the land.
Director: Mark Decena (US 2023) 60 min

WATCH TRAILER

PERIODICAL
MONDAY, MARCH 30 • 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER
GRADES 9-12

SCREENING + VIRTUAL Q&A WITH DIRECTOR LINA LYTE PLIOPLYTE

ABOUT THE FILM

In our era of social media-empowered feminism, after centuries of societal-enforced stigma, menstruation has finally begun to bleed out into the mainstream. We’re finally using red liquid instead of blue in period product ads, seeing beauty influencers use their period blood for facials on social media, and even the most daring period scenes are being depicted on tv — but we still know alarmingly little when it comes to menstruation. And we still have even further to go in the battle to acknowledge and accept periods for exactly what they are: Bloody. Beautiful. Normal. Periodical, a feature documentary from XTR and with MSNBC Films, tells the unexpected story of the human body by exploring the marvel and mystery of the menstrual cycle, from first period to last.
Director: Lina Lyte Plioplyte (US 2022) 101 min

WATCH TRAILER

DIDI
MONDAY, MAY 18 • 11:00 AM – 12:36 PM
SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER
GRADES 10-12

SCREENING + VIRTUAL Q&A WITH DIRECTOR SEAN WANG

ABOUT THE FILM

Set during the summer of 2008, Dìdi follows a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy navigating the awkward, often painful terrain of adolescence as he moves between skate culture, early social media, and life within his immigrant family. With humor and emotional honesty, writer-director Sean Wang crafts a tender coming-of-age portrait that explores identity, belonging, masculinity, and the pressures of growing up between cultures. A quietly powerful film about self-discovery, Dìdi offers meaningful opportunities for classroom discussion around youth identity and cultural expression
Director: Sean Wang (US 2024) 96 min

Note: The film includes explicit language, teen bullying, and emotionally intense moments involving family conflict and identity exploration.

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