Scene A · About this work

IB Film made practical for real classrooms.

Created by Erick Pessôa — IB DP Film educator, filmmaker, and examiner. Based in Paris. Built for real classrooms.
Behind the Scenes - "Isabeau"
“The Classroom” — American School of Paris. Where the lessons are taught, tested, and rewritten.
Photograph by Cristiano Silva
Digital · 35mm · f/2.8
Director’s letter · MMXXVI

I am a filmmaker, educator, IB examiner, and workshop leader based in Paris. For more than twenty years, I have worked at the intersection of cinema, education, and assessment, helping students and teachers approach film as both an art form and a disciplined creative practice. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, I began my professional journey in International Relations before committing fully to filmmaking and film education. I have trained in Brazil, the United States, and the United Kingdom, including studies at USC and the London Film School, and I was accepted into the Editing Conservatory at the American Film Institute.

My work with the International Baccalaureate has shaped much of my professional life, and my commitment to the IB Film programme is one of the driving forces behind my teaching. Since 2011, I have served as a DP Film examiner, evaluating student work from around the world. I later became Principal Examiner for the Collaborative Film Project and an official IB Workshop Leader, supporting educators in their understanding of the course, its assessments, and its creative demands. I was also part of the team that reviewed and updated the current IB Film Guide, contributing to the way film is taught in IB classrooms internationally.

I currently teach IB Film at the American School of Paris, where I treat the subject as a serious academic course with the energy of a hands-on film lab. Teaching filmmaking is one of my deepest professional passions: I want students to analyse, experiment, collaborate, shoot, edit, revise, and understand how meaning is built on screen. This portal brings together lessons, labs, assessment support, production exercises, and teaching materials developed through years of teaching, examining, leading workshops, and making films. I also use AI as a support tool in this process: to refine structure, generate possibilities, test clarity, and improve the usability of materials. The ideas, teaching philosophy, assessment judgement, classroom experience, and final editorial decisions remain my own. My aim is not to simplify film education, but to make it clearer, more practical, more engaging, and more alive in the classroom.

Erick Pessôa
Creator · IB Film Educator · Paris
“For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy.”
- Roger Ebert
By the numbers
10+
years examining IB Film
8–12
grades taught
MMXV
established
1
Pessôa production
Five principles · taped to my editing-suite wall
01
Criteria-aligned.
Every lesson is built around IB assessment criteria. Clear goals, clear feedback, no fluff.
02
Built for real classrooms.
Practical, hands-on resources designed by a working IB Film teacher. Not theoretical — tested with students.
03
Inquiry → action → reflection.
The IB methodology in practice: ask the question, make the work, examine the result.
04
Cite the source.
Every still, every clip, every reference is credited. Transparency in teaching and in making.
05
Honest about the craft.
Filmmaking is rigorous. These lessons treat it that way — with practicality, rigour, and kindness.

A one-Pessôa production.

Masthead · solo production
E
● Crew
Erick Pessôa
Creator · IB Film Educator · Examiner
Paris · Lessons, curriculum, assessment & film

Send me a frame.

Got a lesson idea? A correction? A film you think I’d love? Drop me a line — I read every message.
Contact
erick@teachingibfilm.com
Site
teachingibfilm.com