Making movies is part of curriculum

Boston schools offer classes for future filmmakers

"Girls Rock!" (above), a documentary about the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, is getting a nine-show run at the MFA. (Nicole weingart)

There's good news for budding filmmakers like those working with Citizen Schools. According to the Office of Career and Technical Education of the Boston Public Schools, teachers at six Boston high schools will get training in September on a new program that offers online and downloadable instruction in filmmaking.

The curriculum will focus on movie development, pre-production, production, and post-production, and will guide students through the process from concept to final project. It's being presented in collaboration with Independent Student Media, a California company.

The six participating schools are Boston Arts Academy, Media Communications Technology High School, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, East Boston High School, The English High School, and Brighton High School, according to Tessil Collins, senior coordinator of the Arts, Media & Communications Technology Industry Cluster for the Boston Public Schools.

SAVE THE DATE: Czech director Milos Forman will be at the MFA on Aug. 21 at the start of an eight-film retrospective of his work. The 8 p.m. event will feature a screening of his 1965 film "Loves of a Blonde." The MFA notes that Aug. 21 is "the fortieth anniversary of the day Soviet tanks crushed the democracy movement in Prague," an event frequently invoked in Forman's work. Information is at 617-267-9300 and mfa.org/film.

SCREENINGS OF NOTE: If you see a sleepy-looking filmmaker today, ask if he or she took part in the Boston Film Race 2008. The challenge was to make an original short film in 24 hours, from 10 p.m. Friday until 10 p.m. last night.

All will be shown at the Brattle Theatre on Wednesday at 9 p.m. and Thursday at 9:30 p.m., and the best will move on to the national competition. Read more (and watch a selection of videos from last year) at filmracing.com/cities/boston.htm.

"Girls Rock!" is a documentary about the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls where girls as young as 8 years old get to unleash their inner goth or develop a heavy metal snarl. The movie's getting a nine-show run at the MFA, with shows this week on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. and Saturday at 1:15 p.m. Through Aug. 16.

Leslie Brokaw can be reached at lbrokaw@globe.com.