Santa Barbara County elementary school students took an excursion to the Arlington Theatre Friday morning to watch Disney Pixar’s animated film Coco.
The fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade trip was part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s program Mike’s Field Trip to the Movie.
The organization also held a free screening of the movie Thursday morning, and the two-day event drew about 4,000 young learners.
More than 130 fifth and sixth graders from Goleta Union School District’s Ellwood Elementary School filled the historic downtown theater early Friday.
“For some kids, this might be their first time in a big theater,” said Lindsey Pierce, a resource teacher at Ellwood Elementary School.
The co-director of the film, Adrian Molina, joined SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling for a discussion following the screening.
The educational outreach event teaches students about the art of filmmaking, inspire creativity and critical thinking.
“It broadens the student’s storytelling experiences because they can see what makes a story come to life,” said Louise Dahlquist, a fifth-grade teacher at Ellwood Elementary.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to see a movie, and also ask questions to the director and get their input about what goes into making a movie.”
SBIFF provides free transportation to students from low-income demographic areas to guarantee that underserved populations can attend the event.
Mike’s Field Trip to the Movie was founded 13 years ago by the late nature cinematographer Mike deGruy.
SBIFF also supplies a study guide for the featured film and works with select schools to coordinate in-school filmmaker presentations before the field trip.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.