High School: Your Challenge

National Diploma(fr)

In Kisangani, a group of high-school students who cannot afford to pay the teachers' "bonuses" organized themselves to prepare the State exam together.

American Teen(en)

A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.

Bots High(en)

A documentary following the adventures of three high school robotics teams battling for first place at a national robotics competition in Miami, Florida. Lone wolf Will builds robots so powerful they're unstoppable...if only they don't destroy themselves first. The Mechanical Misfits are an all-girls team stumbling through their first foray into combat robotics, and Elizabeth and Danielle are a formidable pair looking to reign supreme during their senior year.

Going Varsity in Mariachi(en)

A year in the life of an underdog competitive high school mariachi band in the Texas borderlands.

Junior War(en)

In Junior War, a throng of highschoolers congregate at night for a party in the woods sometime in the year 2000. A band plays, the kids get drunk, the boys and girls tepidly flirt, and groups deploy into cars for the purpose of destroying mailboxes, tee-peeing houses, breaking lawn ornaments, and sparring with the police. The film is composed entirely of footage Trecartin took during his senior year of high school in exurban Ohio; as such, it baits the viewer with genealogical significance.

Mr. Football(en)

After an urban Catholic High School football team comes together to win a state championship, tragedy strikes. A star player is killed and two of his teammates are charged with his murder. Based on the true story of the Cleveland, Ohio Benedictine football team's 2004 season.

Grup natural(ca)

American Cheerleader(en)

Follows the journey of two high school teams vying for the coveted UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship title.

Nová zemědělská škola, nová mláděž – nová vesnice(cs)

Resolved(en)

The fascinating complexity of high school debate gives way to a portrait of the equally complex racial and class bias of American education in Greg Whiteley's riveting documentary.

Science Fair(en)

Filmmakers follow nine high school students from around the globe as they compete at an international science fair. Facing off against 1,700 of the smartest teens from 78 countries, only one will be named Best in Fair.

Namaste Nepal(en)

American high school students from the privileged Silicon Valley travel to Manang, Nepal in this documentary about how travel and life experiences can change personal perceptions. Together with a group of Manangi high schoolers, the students expand their cultural knowledge and experience a slice of life as a citizen of the globe.

Paper Tigers(en)

Follows a year in the life of an alternative high school that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students, becoming a promising model for how to break the cycles of poverty, violence and disease that affect families.

Pressure Cooker(en)

A committed, passionate teacher tries to make all the difference in the lives of disadvantaged students.

Freakonomics(en)

Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.

Home + Away(en)

This coming-of-age story follows three students of El Paso's Bowie High and their search for the American dream, a dream inspired by family, fueled by sports, and complicated by the US/Mexican border.

Frontrunners(en)

A documentary on the competition for student body president at New York's Stuyvesant High School. As the notoriously competitive school's election draws near, the campaign becomes a microcosm for the nation at large, with race, gender and appearance vying for attention with real issues.

The School Is Watching(en)

Good morning, Bear River High School. This documentary is made up entirely of high school morning announcement broadcasts from the 1990s.

How to Dance in Ohio(en)

In Columbus, Ohio, a group of autistic teenagers and young adults role-play this transition by going through the deceptively complex social interactions of preparing for a spring formal. Focusing on several young women as they go through an iconic American rite of passage, we are given intimate access to people who are often unable to share their experiences with others. With humor and heartbreak, How to Dance in Ohio shows the daily courage of people facing their fears and opening themselves to the pain, worry, and joy of the social world.

Zoned In(en)

Winner of the New York LOVES Film Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. Filmed over the course of nine years, Zoned In traces the remarkable real-life journey of 16-year-old Daniel from a Bronx high school to an Ivy League university while simultaneously exploring the role of race and class in the American education system. Narrated by Daniel himself, the movie celebrates the accomplishments of this extraordinary young man but does not shy away from depicting his struggles to fit in amongst the privileged students at his college and his candid questioning of a system that has allowed him to excel but has left so many of his friends and family members behind.