Education

2017 ACADEMY AWARD® Nominee for Documentary Short Subject In Joe’s Violin, a donated musical instrument forges an improbable friendship between a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and 12-year-old Bronx school girl, showing how the power of music to bring light in the darkest of times and how a small act can have a profound impact.

Recorded over six years, Raising Bertie delivers an authentic and tender portrait of the lives of three young boys as they face a precarious coming of age within Bertie County, a rural African-American community in North Carolina. Another harrowing work from the acclaimed documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films, the film shows the process of growing up in a place afflicted by generations of economic and educational segregation.

From the producers of the Academy Award winning documentary Inocente, 1 Way Up tells the inspirational story of two teenage boys hoping to escape one of the toughest gang neighborhoods in London with the only thing they have—a bike.

2014 César winner for Best Documentary, On the Way to School interweaves the stories of four children from around the world whose desire to learn and better their lives through education forces them to contend with arduous, often perilous journeys every day on their way to the classroom.

Do people still want to hear stories about the Holocaust? This question plagues Leo Bretholz, a Holocaust survivor who has recounted his story to thousands of students across the country. See You Soon Again is a singular film about the weight of history, about how hard it is to tell a story of unspeakable suffering, and how impossible it is not to.

2013 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Subject! The moving and inspiring story of a remarkable 15-year-old girl, homeless and undocumented, but fiercely pursuing her dream of becoming an artist. An essential documentary that confronts issues of teen homelessness, immigration and the importance of arts education in this country.

Executive produced by Kevin Spacey, Shakespeare High is an uplifting documentary that follows a diverse group of California high school students as they prepare for and compete in an annual Shakespeare Festival - a unique program that counts many of Hollywood's biggest stars among its alumni. A celebration of theater and performance, Shakespeare High illustrates the life-changing effect drama programs such as this can have on young people.

Examining the history and cultural implications of one of the most popular websites in the world, Truth in Numbers? Everything According to Wikipedia provokes a deeper conversation on the power of new media, on how knowledge is collected, disseminated and controlled.

An exploration of gender and sexuality in Native American culture, Two Spirits interweaves the story of the life and brutal murder of a Navajo teenager with the largely unknown history of the 'two-spirit' tradition - the acceptance, even celebration, among indigenous cultures of people with both masculine and feminine traits.

Through a passionate mixture of private videos, uncensored interviews and school-day adventures, the young children of Singleton Charter Middle School, the first school to open in New Orleans after Katrina, have created a revealing portrait of urban youth at the heart of an ongoing American crisis.

An experiment in democracy is taking place in a third grade classroom in China. For the first time, students will be able to elect their own class monitor. A surprising and insightful documentary, Please Vote for Me seeks to determine how - if democracy should come to China - it would be received.

It's hard to run for office - even in high school. Frontrunners follows the recent elections at the ultra-competitive Stuyvesant High School in New York City, and explores how politics works at its most nascent level.