1. Maestra
Cuba, 1961: 250,000 volunteers taught 700,000 people to read and write in one year. 100,000 of the teachers were under 18 years old. Over half were women. MAESTRA explores this story through the personal testimonies of the young women who went out to teach literacy in rural communities across the island - and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.
2. Kandidaten
Scene is the classroom of a special school in Berlin. Yannik is the leader of class 7a. Yousuf and Marcel would rather have him as a friend than as an enemy, otherwise they might end up like Emanuel. Sitting in a corner, unwanted and lonely, he gets beaten up regularly. But Emanuel shrugs off these offences and violations with surprising gentleness. All in one boat, the roles are firmly distributed. But when the teacher introduces the topics of democracy, ethics, and human rights to the class, Emanuel sees a chance to break free from his role as the underdog.
3. I Am Hope
Through fly-on-the-wall footage and insightful interviews, director ShakaJamal chronicles the effort to create a first-of-its-kind yoga and mindfulness program for Oakland Unified School District middle schools. Aimed at expanding students’ awareness and refining their goals, the initiative has been a unique success, and I Am Hope offers a poignant portrait of the day-to-day struggles of diverse young people united in their desire to pursue big dreams.
4. Le Retour de l'école à l'ancienne (Le Retour de l'école à l'ancienne)
(Le Retour de l'école à l'ancienne)
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
5. Marked by Darkness (Poznačení tmou)
Short, evocative documentary on the education of blind and partially sighted children.
6. Esmalts (Esmalts)
(Esmalts)
7. Dance for All
(Dance for All)
8. A Way Out (出·路)
For six years the film follows 3 young Chinese from different social levels, different regions and different mindsets into their adult lives.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
9. Nielimishe
Documentary about primary education in impoverished areas of Nairobi.
10. Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
Morgan Spurlock tours the Middle East to discuss the war on terror with Arabic people.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
11. If You Build It
A year in the life of one of America's most innovative classrooms where students design & build to transform their hometown community. The film follows Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller as they teach the fundamentals of design, architecture and construction to a class of high school juniors in rural North Carolina.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
12. L'École de la vie - Une génération pour tout changer (L'École de la vie - Une génération pour tout changer)
(L'École de la vie - Une génération pour tout changer)
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
13. The ABCs of Book Banning
In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the US, labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. By no accident, the themes targeted are the usual scapegoats of the American Right—LGBTQ+ issues, Black History, and women’s empowerment—impeding the power of future generations to develop their own thoughts and opinions on critical social issues. By weaving together a lyrical montage of young readers and authors, THE ABCs OF BOOK BANNING reveals the voices of the impacted parties, and inspires hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.
It has an average vote of 5.933 on TMDB.
14. Migrant Dreams
When Umi and Dwipa left Indonesia to work in an Ontario greenhouse as part of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program, they hoped the jobs would provide the opportunity and income for a better life. They didn't expect that fixers and false promises would lead to deception and exploitation. Sadly, their story is not uncommon. Min Sook Lee continues to speak truth to power with her commitment to providing a voice to the silenced, fulfilling documentary's capacity as a powerful tool for social change.
15. Bird's Nest - Herzog & de Meuron in China
Schaub and Schindelm’s documentary follows two Swiss star architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, on two very different projects: the national stadium for the Olympic summer games in Peking 2008 and a city area in the provincial town of Jinhua, China.
16. Tractor Ted Diggers and Dumpers
Tractor Ted takes us to see some amazing diggers and dumpers at work. The huge excavators are at work in the quarry, where we see them blasting rock and then down at the river clearing banks. Dave is working on his digger showing us different jobs he can use it for and the children have a tricky job trying to catch the lambs.
17. A City Decides
A City Decides chronicles the events that led to the integration of the St. Louis public schools in 1954. An Oscar-nominated short documentary from 1956.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
18. Being and Becoming (Être et devenir)
Being and Becoming explore the choice not to school ones children, to trust them and to let them learn freely what they are passionate about. Through four countries, the US, Germany , France and the UK, the film is a truth quest about the natural desire to learn.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
19. Freedom Runners
Rotem Genossar, a teacher at the Bialik-Rogozin campus in south Tel Aviv, founds a running group for his students, young African refugees whose families fled their homeland and now live in Israel without any legal status. At first running is just a social activity for the students, but it quickly becomes a means to fight for their civil rights, part of a struggle to secure them a place of their own, out of the margins of Israeli society.
20. Sticky: A (Self) Love Story
"Sticky" is everything your mother was too embarrassed to tell you about masturbation, in one stimulating documentary. Full of candid interviews from celebrated figures to everyday people, health care professionals, sex therapists, zoologists, anthropologists, and religious figures, this feature length doc answers age-old questions like: What is masturbation? Will it make me go blind? Is it "normal"? Is it wrong? And why are we so afraid to be caught in the act? In a world where confusion about sexuality remains at the root of so many societal problems - rape, sexual abuse, and the threat of sexually transmitted diseases - "Sticky" will help shatter misconceptions and myths surrounding this intimate aspect of human sexuality.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
