The most important component of the project are the Open Eyes school screenings: As a low-threshold event the screenings of exceptional films are meant to educate students about human rights issues while at the same time strengthening their media skills. All film screenings take place in the morning or early afternoon and are accompanied pedagogically. Each screening opens with a short introduction to the issue of human rights in general and the subject and the aesthetics of the respective film in particular. After the screening either the filmmaker, protagonist, or human rights experts discuss the film with the students. All films are (unless available in a German version) translated by the festival and subtitled or dubbed live during the screening to allow for a maximum understanding of the films for all kids independet of their English and/or reading skills.

Since 2009, the Open Eyes Youth Reporters form the third leg of the project: In cooperation with the editors of the Extra youth pages of Nürnberger Nachrichten, the biggest regional newspaper, 5 students are selected to report each on a respective festival film. Individual film screenings are then scheduled for the young reporters, in which they watch and discuss their respective film with the NIHRFF-team. The editors of the Extra section of Nürnberger Nachrichten lend editorial support to the young film critics and publish their reviews in in the newspaper during the film festival. The aim of this project module is to interest young people in commited filmmaking by informing and intersting them through their peers.