SCHOOL/EDUCATION
HISTORY BOYS – R
Trailer for The History Boys on TrailerAddict.
Bringing an entirely fresh and witty perspective to the cinematic tradition of inspirational classroom dramas such as The Dead Poet’s Society, Finding Forrester and The Emperors Club comes The History Boys, a sly, funny yet thought-provoking story about the real meaning and value of “getting an education.” Based on the play that won the hearts of Broadway audiences and garnered six Tony Awards this year, The History Boys follows an unruly bunch of sharp, talented but rough-edged British schoolboys whose worlds are changed forever when two teachers with opposing viewpoints on education engage in a battle to get them into Oxford and Cambridge.
It all begins at a small public boys’ school in industrial Northern England where an unprecedented eight students are about to pursue the ultimate British dream: to gain acceptance into one of England’s two legendary universities. Distracted by sex, sports and the chaos of growing up in the 1980s, the boys are helped, and sometimes hindered, in their quest by two teachers who are diametrically different in their methods. New to the school is the slick Irwin, a recent graduate of Oxford who has been hired by the ambitious Headmaster to whip the boys into exam-ready shape with his aggressive focus on strategy and “spin.” Then there is the maverick literature teacher Hector, who thinks himself a fool yet breaks all the rules in trying to help the boys discover their own wisdom. As both teachers vie for the boys’ loyalty, minds, and even hearts, they impart vital lessons and reveal their own human flaws.
Through biting wit and rapid-fire dialogue – not to mention music, song, vintage movie scenes, impassioned debates and moments of stark emotional truth – The History Boys humorously brings to the fore the serious subject of how one generation passes its wisdom on to the next.
GOOD WILL HUNTING – R
A South Boston whiz kid elects to clean the halls of learning rather than enter them, slumming his way through life as a janitor at MIT. But his natural ability to unravel complex equations attracts the attention of a professor who won’t let him quit, a beautiful Harvard student who wants to save him, a sympathetic buddy who wants him to escape South Boston, and a counselor who encourages him.
Trailer for Good Will Hunting on TrailerAddict.
LEAN ON ME – PG13
The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school that he is determined to improve.
STAND AND DELIVER – PG
Edward James Olmos’s Oscar-nominated performance energizes this true- life story of a Los Angeles high school teacher who drives his students on to excellence at calculus. MPAA Rating: PG
BLACKBOARD JUNGLE
A new English teacher at a violent, unruly inner-city school is determined to do his job, despite resistance from both students and faculty.
HE NAMED ME MALALA
HE NAMED ME MALALA is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund.
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman) shows us how Malala, her father Zia and her family are committed to fighting for education for all girls worldwide. The film gives us an inside glimpse into this extraordinary young girl’s life – from her close relationship with her father who inspired her love for education, to her impassioned speeches at the UN, to her everyday life with her parents and brothers.
LIKE STARS ON EARTH
Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate; colours, fish, dogs and kites are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks and neatness. And Ishaan just cannot seem to get anything right in class. When he gets into far more trouble than his parents can handle, he is packed off to a boarding school to ‘be disciplined’. Things are no different at his new school, and Ishaan has to contend with the added trauma of separation from his family. One day a new art teacher bursts onto the scene, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, who infects the students with joy and optimism. He breaks all the rules of ‘how things are done’ by asking them to think, dream and imagine, and all the children respond with enthusiasm, all except Ishaan. Nikumbh soon realizes that Ishaan is very unhappy, and he sets out to discover why. With time, patience and care, he ultimately helps Ishaan find himself.
CIAO PROFESSORE – R
TRAILER
Marco Sperelli is a teacher, he is divorced and he is sent to work in Corzano, a town near Naples. The first day of work he finds in the school only the school-caretaker and few girls and boys in the class-room. He goes out looking for them and he discovers then a wretched life led by the boys and the girls of Corzano. A life in which only power and violence are worth respecting. Sperelli tries to teach something different but he gets their respect only by slapping Raffaele, on the way to became a camorrist. His presence and his work, however, disturb too many persons and he will be transferred.
– Written by Baldinotto da Pistoia