Abstract

FilmEU is an alliance including Lusófona University, Portugal, Baltic Film and Media School, Estonia, LUCA, Belgium and IADT, Ireland. Together they are working to create a collaborative University of Film and Media Arts. This paper aims to elucidate their pilot project which consisted of a year-long Challenge Module designed for 2nd year film and media BA students in the consortium and represents the first test implementation of the Samsara pedagogical framework. Students came together to create mini-series from concept development to postproduction. This project asked students to incorporate and consider a societal challenge in their work. The first challenge topic launched by FilmEU concerned “Sexuality, Gender and Censorship”. By developing and producing a pilot for a short-form series or other media art projects in collaborative teams drawn from four of the Alliance institutions, the students posited their stories within a larger social sphere. This paper will document the process, challenges, aims and objectives of the first pilot project from the FilmEU alliance.