Os Sonhos da Gente

Through These Eyes(en)

A 1970s American elementary school program encouraging students to figure out for themselves the universal building blocks of human community — family, work, faith, etc. — inflamed political sensitivities so intensely it was shelved and forgotten. Archive footage of the documentary film series at the program's core, classroom exchanges, and the ensuing controversy frames larger issues of education, politics and ideology.

School Town King(th)

It follows two teenage rappers in Bangkok who use their musical talent to navigate their difficult circumstances.

A Foot in the Door(en)

A Foot in the Door tells the story of Kindergarten to College (K2C), the first universal children’s savings account program in the United States. Launched by the City and County of San Francisco, the program automatically provides a college savings account to children when they start kindergarten.

Pelé - A Origem(pt)

The School of Tomorrow(fr)

The correlation between social class and school performance is a major issue across the world. This miniseries is an attempt to go beyond ideological approaches of the problem. It is a pragmatic, scientific, and international exploration of education techniques. Two thirds of students will hold jobs that have not been invented yet and 47% of current jobs are expected to be replaced by machines.

Integration Report 1(en)

Integration Report 1, Madeline Anderson's trailblazing debut, was the first known documentary by an African American female director. With tenacity, empathy and skill, Anderson assembles a vital record of desegregation efforts around the country in 1959 and 1960, featuring footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Richard Leacock and early Black cameraman Robert Puello, singing by Maya Angelou, and narration by playwright Loften Mitchell. Anderson fleetly moves from sit-ins in Montgomery, Alabama to a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. to a protest of the unprosecuted death in police custody of an unarmed Black man in Brooklyn, capturing the incredible reach and scope of the civil rights movement, and working with this diverse of footage, as she would later say, “like an artist with a palette using different colors.”

Dear Students(en)

A documentary feature film which aims to expand the usually one-sided conversation between students and teachers. During its runtime, raw experiences heard from all sides of the conversation are laid bare during its 77 minute runtime. From all of these interviewees, including a student, a school psychiatrist, and five teachers, the viewer shouldn't expect to be confronted with a narrow perspective but rather a question: "where do I stand?"

Berg Fidel(de)

If children don't learn from an early age that people are different, when will they? The documentary focuses on four children at the inclusive Berg Fidel primary school in Münster. Director Hella Wenders spent three years following David, Jakob, Lucas, and Anita with her camera at school, at home, and in their free time. While the idea of an open school is currently the subject of lively debate, this sensitive portrait film gives the children a voice. They talk about themselves and share their dreams and concerns with us. The viewer is impressed by how naturally they interact with each other and becomes part of a small world that functions in a miraculous way.

Matriculation(pl)

The final oral exam in history and social studies at one of Warsaw's high schools. The film illustrates the theatre of social life in Soviet Poland where one says different things on the stage and another behind the scenes.

Reach for the SKY(ko)

Can one day shape the rest of your life? A feature documentary on the South-Korean education system.

Fogelstadgruppen(sv)

Divas(fr)

Vincennes, l'université perdue(fr)

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.

Children of Utopia(de)

Twelve years after they went to school together, six children from Berlin with and without disabilities are interviewed on the topic of inclusion in the German school system.

The Whole Gritty City(en)

Young members of 3 New Orleans school marching bands grow up in America's most musical city, and one of its most dangerous. Their band directors get them ready to perform in the Mardi Gras parades, and teach them to succeed and to survive.

Audism Unveiled(en)

In American Sign Language (ASL) with subtitles available in English, Spanish and Canadian French. This powerful documentary uses real life experiences from Deaf people of varied social, racial, and educational boundaries showing how this form of oppression does lasting and harmful damage. Bonus materials include directors' comments from Ben Bahan and H-Dirksen Bauman and additional scences. Teachers: This film is a wonderful tool for beginning ASL students, as an introduction to a side of Deaf culture that cannot be found in any textbook.

The Making of a Japanese(ja)

Intimately following 1st and 6th graders at a public elementary school in Tokyo, we observe kids learning the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society.

History on the Run: The Media and the '79 Election(en)

This documentary examines the media's coverage of the Canadian federal election of May 1979. Filmed over a 3-week period, it takes a fascinating look at journalists in action and the politicians who attempt to manipulate the media.

First Graders(fa)

A documentary film about a boys school in Iran. The film shows numerous, funny and moving interviews of many different young pupils of this school summoned by their superintendent for questions of discipline. The man is not severe, but clever and fair. He teaches loyalty, fellowship and righteousness to these boys. Besides these interviews, we see scenes of this school’s quotidian life.

On the Way to School(fr)

These children live in the four corners of the earth, but share the same thirst for learning. They understand that only education will allow them a better future and that is why, every day, they must set out on the long and perilous journey that will lead them to knowledge. Jackson and his younger sister from Kenya walk 15 kilometres each way through a savannah populated by wild animals; Carlito rides more than 18 kilometres twice a day with his younger sister, across the plains of Argentina; Zahira lives in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains who has an exhausting 22 kilometres walk along punishing mountain paths before she reaches her boarding school; Samuel from India sits in a clumsy DIY wheelchair and the 4 kilometres journey is an ordeal each day, as his two younger brothers have to push him all the way to school…