CAFILM EDUCATION PRESENTS
CLASSROOM TO CINEMA
CLASSROOM TO CINEMA is a year-round K-12 screening series that brings the classroom into the theater. Schools are invited to morning screenings of films curated to align with classroom topics or cultural events.
This program transforms the theater into an interactive learning environment, offering students an engaging and immersive educational experience.
All CLASSROOM TO CINEMA screenings take place at the Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth Street, San Rafael.
QATAR STARS
MARCH | WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
GRADE LEVELS: 6-12
THURSDAY, MARCH 27 • 11:00 AM
PROGRAM DURATION: 98 MIN FILM + 20 MIN Q&A
ABOUT THE FILM
QATAR STARS is the first feature documentary about girls in Qatar. This documentary is a four- year coming of age story set inside a gender self-segregating rhythmic gymnastics school, in the rapidly evolving years leading up to the 2022 FIFA men’s World Cup. Girls from Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Ukraine, and UK grow up onscreen over four years, changing from wiggly nine-year-olds to maturing teens who must navigate the evolving, gendered world around them. The girls experience both triumphs and heartaches, to ultimately form an unbreakable bond.
Director: Danielle Beverly (US 2023) 98 min.
DANIELLE BEVERLY is a mid-career, independent documentary filmmaker with four feature documentaries as Director/Producer/Camera. She works as a one-person crew to craft observational documentaries that have been selected for DOC NYC Industry Roundtables, IFP Market, and Doha Film Institute’s Qumra, screened at festivals and The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, been broadcast on PBS/World Channel and Al Jazeera Witness, and received distribution through Women Make Movies. Her latest documentary, Qatar Stars (2023) follows a rhythmic gymnastics school in Doha, with girls aged 9-15 from Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Ukraine, UK.
To learn more, visit the Qatar Stars website
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BVAC
SMOKING TIGERS
MAY | ASIAN PACIFIC HERITAGE MONTH
GRADE LEVELS: 7-12
MONDAY, MAY 12 • 11:00 AM
MONDAY, MAY 19 • 11:00 AM
PROGRAM DURATION: 91 MIN FILM + 20 MIN VIRTUAL Q&A
ABOUT THE FILM
Set in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, SMOKING TIGERS is a portrait of a lonely Korean-American teen named Hayoung who is taken under the wings of three wealthy students she meets at an elite academic bootcamp. As she falls deeper into their world, Hayoung works harder to hide her true self, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood that will forever shape her life.
Directors: So Young Shelly Yo, Guo Guo (US 2023) 91 min
SO YOUNG SHELLY YO is a Korean American filmmaker whose work has been supported by HBO, SFFILM, Sloan and others. Shelly’s feature film, Smoking Tigers, was the winner of Tribeca & AT&T’s Untold Stories and was awarded best screenplay, best performance and a special jury mention for the Nora Ephron Prize at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
Prior to Smoking Tigers, Shelly created many award-winning short films including Soft Sounds of Peeling Fruit and Moonwalk with Me which have screened at festivals around the world. Most recently, Shelly was awarded the New Voice Award at the 2023 Austin Film Festival and was chosen for the 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough Program.