Film director: Beijing February 2021

在我们那个年代，学电影是一件很难得的事情，有多少人都没有机会接触这个行业，因为拍电影需要花费大量的时间并且需要充分的实际经验。多亏了欧莱里老师的电影课程，让我儿子在高中的时候就接触到了堪比大学专业教育的电影知识。欧莱里老师启发了一批又一批对电影感兴趣的高中生们，而这些年轻人会成为未来电影市场的顶梁柱。

"In our time, it was a very rare thing to study film. The amount of time and practical experience needed meant that very few people had the opportunity to enter the film industry. Thanks to Mr. O’Reilly, my son had a high school film course rivaling that of higher education. Mr. O’Reilly’s passion in film education has inspired many aspiring high school students, and these young adults are sure to become core contributors  of the future film market."

Zhang Yi Mou, director of Hero, Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers, To Live, Not One Less and many more.

I won’t forget when Breen O’Reilly showed me what happens when a film maker puts a troubled character in a door frame or in a closed space. Bit by bit, through Breen’s guidance, I began to see the multiple facets of meaning brought to text through visual cues. Breen O’Reilly really knows teaching and learning, both for students and teachers. Devoted students and engaged, excited teachers I’ve talked with following his workshops bear witness to that. He approaches learning through inquiry and engages learners with his deep knowledge of topics at hand and of the IB programmes. His winning personal manner, both in person and on Zoom, is also much appreciated by those whose learning he guides. As his teaching colleague, as a curriculum coordinator and as a professional learning consultant myself, Breen is my go-to expert on all matters of visual literacy for students of all ages and for adults - including myself.

“With some of the new changes in IB Language and Literature, it was wonderful to have the expertise and experience of Breen O’Reilly. Breen is a senior examiner for IB Diploma Film and this experience and expertise in film and all things cinematic was hugely beneficial. Breen’s workshops were tailored to accommodate a range of experience and understandings; from beginner to expert and this ensured all our department members developed their capacities in teaching visual literacy.  This inspired me to see things in film I had never seen before.” Breen also provided excellent resources to support our teaching of film, documentaries and visual literacy. 

Breen’s style was engaging and inclusive. The workshops were well structured and focused on a range of activities and group work. Breen was also willing to work with us on what our specific needs were and created a workshop product that was bespoke to our school. We cannot recommend him highly enough! 

"I was fortunate enough to join Breen’s ‘Getting to Know China through Film’ PD for ISB faculty for a number of years. Our sessions were consistently enjoyable and thought-provoking both in the visual literacy and cultural understanding domains. His faculty workshops on the use of documentary film for MS and HS classes were equally well-received, and so popular that they were regularly over-subscribed. These workshops resulted in substantial skill-building in our faculty. If you need an expert to engage and build capacity in your faculty in a stimulating and interactive environment, I cannot recommend Breen more highly."

“Breen is a knowledgeable and highly engaging presenter. His workshops were unusual in that they stimulated not only professional thinking and ideas, but also personal understanding and enjoyment of film, visual arts, history and sociology. I greatly enjoyed attending his workshops myself and was always keen to include them in our professional development calendar because I knew how well they were always received by colleagues."

"Thank you for making this course such an enjoyable and valuable experience, Breen. There are so many helpful tips, hints and support ideas that have been shared that will make delivering this course so much easier, but more importantly, much more relevant and rigorous. Breen, your in-depth understanding of the course and your advice have been excellent and the support material you have shared has been, and will be, so useful. Thank you."

"To Breen, our facilitator and guide: Thank you for your leadership, sharp commentary, resources, and activities that kept us engaged and urged us to dig deeper but, mostly, to look into ourselves as to how we teach this film course.  You have been accommodating, patient, straight to the point, prepared, helpful, and polite. I hope to join you for another workshop in the future, online or in person."

 "I cannot thank you enough for your workshop session last Thursday.  Not only did I appreciate your topic, but I also appreciated the attention you paid to the craft of teaching.  It was very refreshing to be witness to the passion you have for your subject and the dedication you have to your art.  Your expertise was demonstrated throughout your presentation and I am so glad I was there to witness it.  I can tell you love the research, sharing, and the connections you build by making it relevant to elementary teachers as well as HS teachers.  I have a great respect for you and wish there were more like you in our profession.  Thank you so very much." 

"Mr. O’Reilly has a wealth of knowledge and understanding in the area of media literacy and he communicates strategies in simple, yet powerful ways. He is meticulous, thorough, and purposeful in his planning and implementation. In a feedback survey, participants indicated that Mr. O’Reilly presented information in an engaging manner that was easily transferable to their classrooms. Mr. O’Reilly has proven to be an excellent candidate to present on Media Literacy, a topic that urgently needs to be woven into our school's curriculum."

"This was the best PD day I've ever had. Totally enjoyable and fantastically informative. I wish we had another day."

"Breen is a captivating educator who was able to engage our teachers in the world of media literacy. He has shared workshops at schools that have helped teachers see the world through the lens of film and documentaries.  His courses have been engaging, entertaining, and everyone walked out with a new understanding of the world of digital media, and a knowledge of how to connect it to life and learning.  I highly recommend working with Breen to help build the skills and interest of your staff in the area of digital media."

"Breen created a comfortable, welcoming environment from the very first few minutes of our virtual meeting. He shared clearly with enthusiasm, empathy, serious considerations and humor. Breen got to know the students individually and engaged with them directly by name. Breen even got to know their preferences in film choices. He challenged the students with questions relative to the films he showed in demonstrations and referenced questions back to the student’s particular interests regarding their in-class IB visual art directions.  

I highly recommend Breen O’Reilly’s workshops  to strengthen a broader understanding of the visual arts. This course was a great substitute for our annual IB Visual Art Retreat!