The most important component of the project are the Open Eyes school screenings: As a low-threshold offer, the medium of film and the learning venue of cinema are intended to sensitise young people to human rights issues and at the same time strengthen their media skills. All film screenings take place in the morning or early afternoon and are accompanied pedagogically. For each screening there is a short introduction to the topic of human rights in general and then to the topic and the film in particular. After the screening, either filmmakers, protagonists or experts discuss the film with the young people. All films – if they are not available in a German version – are translated and subtitled or spoken live during the screening to ensure maximum understanding of the films for all young people.

Since 2009, the Open Eyes youth reporters have formed the third pillar of the project: In cooperation with the editorial team of the Extra pages of the Nürnberger Nachrichten, five young people are selected through a call for entries to report on one festival film each. For this purpose, individual cinema screenings are organised for the reporters, where they can view their respective film and discuss it with the NIHRFF team. The editorial supervision of the film reviews is taken over by the Extra pages team, which publishes the contributions in the newspaper. The aim of this project component is to get young people interested in committed cinema by informing and enthusing them about these films from their peers.