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. To Be and to Have (Être et avoir)
The documentary's title translates as "to be and to have", the two auxiliary verbs in the French language. It is about a primary school in the commune of Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, France, the population of which is just over 200. The school has one small class of mixed ages , with a dedicated teacher, Georges Lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year.
It has an average vote of 7.254 on TMDB.
3. O Zé Analfabeto e o Trânsito (O Zé Analfabeto e o Trânsito)
(O Zé Analfabeto e o Trânsito)
It has an average vote of 3 on TMDB.
4. Marked by Darkness (Poznačení tmou)
Short, evocative documentary on the education of blind and partially sighted children.
5. Nielimishe
Documentary about primary education in impoverished areas of Nairobi.
6. Method Sampling: How to Build the Future Together
Method Sampling is explored through the works of a hip-hop orchestra, a disabled choreographer, a self-taught Black mycologist, a tiny house builder and a critical theorist.
7. Vincennes, l'université perdue (Vincennes, l'université perdue)
Recounts the epic of Vincennes Experimental University Center, from its creation after the events of May 68 until its demolition in the summer of 1980. To talk about Vincennes is to relive unique ten years of intense intellectual and political extravaganza, educational and artistic inventiveness, utopias, hopes, and betrayals that marked the history in a unique place, the forest with the eponymous name.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
8. A School for Life! (Skolen for livet!)
A satirical presentation of the public school debate, exhibiting three different teaching methods. First, the authoritarian education system of old; Second, a more modern form, combining theory and practice; and finally, the teacher's nightmare, where children are taught only the necessities for modern life: sales techniques, status symbols, and how to elbow your way to the top.
9. 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.
10. Dance for All
(Dance for All)
11. 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.
12. On ne naît pas féministe (On ne naît pas féministe)
(On ne naît pas féministe)
13. 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.
14. One Child Left Behind: The Untold Atlanta Cheating Scandal
In 2009, 1,176 Atlanta teachers were investigated for test cheating; 35 were indicted, 12 went to trial and 11 were found guilty on RICO charges, which are typically reserved for the mafia and drug lords. The guilty, serving 30-year sentences, finally break their silence in this tell-all, controversial film that takes a closer look at the legislations called No Child Left Behind, the politics behind it, and a race and power struggle that spawned one of the most complex scandals in American history.
15. Bitter Sweet Ballad (风起前的蒲公英)
This is a story about youth with music. It all happens at the Dandelion School, Beijing’s first middle school specifically established for the children of migrant workers. Every year when new pupils arrive, Ms. Yuan Xiaoyan, who has worked in the school choir for eight years, would choose a group of music-loving first-years with solid musical foundations to join the choir. A new group of children join the choir while those who have advanced to the second year have to discuss with their families their future choices. For choir members, their music career in middle school will eventually stop due to the pressure of high school entrance examinations and the inevitable parting. But along this journey accompanied by music, they have been savoring the joys and sorrows of their youth, burying them deep in their hearts, and transforming them into growth-promoting nutrients.
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. 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.
19. 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.
20. Teach Me If You Can (Être prof)
The three teachers Svetlana, Sandrine and Taslima teach children and young people in places that are hardly accessible for “normal” lessons - in a nomad tent under the snow cover of Siberia, in a hut in the bushland of Burkina Faso and on a school boat in Bangladesh. They share a common goal: to enable their students to have a better future through education.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
