ITA's Teach Abroad Film Festival

Taking place at The historic Davis Theater, in Chicago, The Teach Abroad Film Festival's goal is to celebrate the work of incredible English teachers abroad who help make a difference through international education & cultural exchange.

In 2020, ITA's Teach Abroad Film Festival became an award-winning Film Festival thanks to 2019 3rd-prize-winner Jack Ross' film, Thank You Vietnam, which won GoAbroad.com's prestigious 2020 Innovative Student Video Award.

In 2020, and due to the pandemic, we're going virtual! Sit back, grab some popcorn & watch the winners announcement now!

Film Submissions

Teaching English Abroad is a truly unique and inspiring experience. You are a teacher, a traveler and an explorer - all at the same time. We'd like you to tell your unique story through the power of film by drawing on the International TEFL Academy slogan for inspiration. You must incorporate elements of each of these three topics within your film: Teach. Travel. Explore.

TEACH

When you teach, you inspire. Show your daily life as an ESL teacher, your school, your students, the smiles and the triumphs - in other words, share your love and dedication to teaching English abroad.

TRAVEL

To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.” Travel is an addiction; a hunger and passion to see the world for all its beauty. Share your travel story.

EXPLORE

Travel is more than seeing and doing. You get to completely immerse yourself in a brand new culture and learn to live like a local. You leave each day knowing more than the one before. Share your explorations.

One way or another, through your experience(s) overseas, you are all storytellers.

Because teaching, traveling and exploring are at the core of International TEFL Academy's values, we'd like to reward the three best overall films with prizes that will help you continue sharing your story. Our friends at Go Overseas will also be awarding a prize for their favorite film:

🥇 GRAND PRIZE: $2,000 (USD) cash prize

🥈 2ND PRIZE: $1,000 (USD) cash prize

🥉 3RD PRIZE: $500 (USD) cash prize

🏅 GO OVERSEAS CHOICE AWARD: $200 (USD) cash prize

International TEFL Academy is proud to join forces with LEAP Innovations (LEAP) as our 2020 Film Festival charity partner. LEAP is a dynamic organization on a mission to catalyze learning innovation by creating access to equitable, high quality personalized learning experiences for all learners, particularly those in underserved communities. No longer satisfied with incremental change, LEAP aims to dramatically increase student achievement by improving teacher practices, increasing student agency, and fostering student-centered learning environments.

Note: 100% of ticket proceeds from the 2020 Teach Abroad Film Festival were supposed to be donated directly to LEAP.

Due to COVID-19, and the event having to go virtual, International TEFL Academy is stepping up to donate $1,500, and invite everyone to donate to LEAP Innovations now:

About International TEFL Academy
Teach Abroad Film Festival

International TEFL Academy's Teach Abroad Film Festival is the first Film Festival that focuses on English teachers abroad. There are about 1.7 billion people learning English worldwide and around 250,000 native English speakers working as ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers in more than 40,000 schools overseas. This Film Festival celebrates the work of incredible English teachers abroad and invites you to see the world through their eyes on this incredible adventure of international education & cultural exchange. International TEFL Academy is a worldwide leader in TEFL certification for teaching English abroad. We certify 6,000 people per year to teach English overseas and our graduates teach professionally in 80 countries worldwide.

ITA's Teach Abroad Film Festival