Yesterday I reached a moment in my career that, when I reflect on it, I could never have imagined back when I started. I just watched a film that was part of the official competition at the Brazilian Film Festival in Paris. It was written and produced by a former student of mine.

My teaching journey began in 2003 at the Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro. I was working as a substitute for their webdesign courses. On my first day, as I arrived at my classroom, I noticed a group of 10th graders regularly hanging out nearby, always talking about movies. As a film enthusiast myself, I began joining their conversations.

One day, someone brought up that Graded School in São Paulo had an after-school video production club. One of the students scoffed and said he could do better. I looked at him and said, "Prove it. Let’s do it." That challenge was the starting point of something special.

After I was hired full-time, that same student, André Pereira, helped me create The Panther Channel, a student-led video production group that quickly became a sensation at EARJ. It was clear that this 16-year-old had genuine talent. He was already making short films on his own, had attended summer film programs in the United States since 9th grade, and had a passion for cinema I had rarely seen.

When he reached his senior year, filmmaking had caught on throughout the school. I asked André to help me develop a syllabus for a semester-long filmmaking elective. Not only did he help design it, but he also enrolled in the class and acted as a kind of teaching assistant. Since then, we’ve remained in touch and become good friends. Each year, he generously gives his time to speak to my IB Film Year 1 students over Zoom.

In 2023, André invited me to be part of the production of A Mother’s Embrace, a Latin American feature film. For me, it was a dream come true.

But this post is not about a teacher taking credit for a student’s journey. This is not about changing someone’s life. It is about feeling honored to witness a former student’s talent grow with such force and generosity. André has inspired me, challenged me, and ultimately helped me become a better teacher.

This is precisely the spirit we hope to foster in the IB Film course. The beauty of our subject lies in the opportunity for collective growth, where roles of teacher and student often blur, and every class becomes a creative exchange. In a film classroom, we do more than teach skills or assess outcomes—we build a community where learning happens together and inspiration flows in every direction. That is the heart of our IB Film Portal project, and stories like this remind us why it matters.