Rochelle Hudson is curating this list of films about education. To suggest additions or for any other thoughts, contact her at rochelle@learningrevolution.com.
2 Million Minutes: A Documentary Calculating the Educational Divide
Chad Heeter / Bob Compton
Year: 2009 | Length: 54 | Focus: USA, India, China
Six students from three countries have 2 million minutes to prepare for college
URL: https://www.2mminutes.com/films/global-examination.asp
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258240/
A City Decides
Charles Guggenheim
Year: 1956 | Length: 27 | Focus: USA
Racial integration in the St. Louis Public Schools
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IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049081/
A Right Denied: The Critical Need For Genuine Education Reform
Whitney Tilson
Year: 2010 | Length: 86 | Focus: USA
Explores achievement gaps at the ixn of race and inner city public schools
URL: http://www.arightdenied.org/about/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617230/
A Small Act
Jennifer Arnold
Year: 2010 | Length: 88 | Focus: Kenya
Search for the benefactor who paid for secondary school / starts own scholarship
URL: http://asmallact.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262958/
A Student's Guide To University
UpdocFilms
Year: 2007 | Length: 3 | Focus: USA
Short animations about corporate university sponsorship
URL: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/a_students_guide_to_university_part_1/
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All American High
Keva Rosenfeld
Year: 1986 | Length: 59 | Focus: USA
High school senior class experience narrated by Finish exchage student
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IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0216532/
American Promise
Joe Brewster
Year: 2013 | Length: 135 | Focus: USA
African American families seek opportunity through education of their sons
URL: http://www.pbs.org/pov/americanpromise/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2545088/
American Teacher
Vanessa Roth
Year: 2011 | Length: 81 | Focus: USA
Issues in our education system told via lives of four teachers in USA
URL: http://www.theteachersalaryproject.org/
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt1848826/
American Teen
Nanette Burstein
Year: 2008 | Length: 95 | Focus: USA
High school seniors in small town Indiana and their various cliques
URL: http://www.slashfilm.com/sundance-movie-review-american-teen/
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0486259/
Amo Beethoven / I Love Beethoven
Stefan Bohun
Year: 2007 | Length: 34 | Focus: Venezuela
Deaf children learn to play instruments and sing in sign language in Venezuela
URL: http://documentary.net/amo-beethoven-i-love-beethoven/
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At Berkely
Frederick Wiseman
Year: 2013 | Length: 244 | Focus: USA
Very long film about UC Berkely
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IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt3091552/
August to June: Bring Life To School
Tom Valens
Year: 2011 | Length: 88 | Focus: USA
Last year of teaching for director's wife teaching in unconventional classroom
URL: http://augusttojune.com/screenings/host-a-screening/
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt1658035/
Being Human (2005 film)
Denys Desjardins
Year: 2005 | Length: - | Focus: Canada
Follows disadvantaged Montreal high school students
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_Human_(2005_film)
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Best Kept Secret
Samanthan Buck
Year: 2013 | Length: 85 | Focus: USA
Teacher and class of high school students with autism in NJ prepare for graduation
URL: http://bestkeptsecretfilm.com/
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt2433448/
Biblioburro: The Donkey Library
Carlos Rendón Zipagauta
Year: 2011 | Length: 60 | Focus: Columbia
Columbian grade-school teacher distributes books from donkey
URL: http://www.pbs.org/pov/biblioburro/
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Breaking the Chain Through Education
Evan Robbins
Year: 2011 | Length: 11 | Focus: Ghana
Short films about children trafficked in the fishing industry in Ghana
URL: http://www.breakingthechainthrougheducation.org/documentaries.html
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Brooklyn Castle
Katie Dellamaggiore
Year: 2012 | Length: 101 | Focus: USA
Challenges and triumphs of below povery middle school chess team
URL: http://www.brooklyncastle.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800266/
Building Hope
Turk Pipkin
Year: 2011 | Length: 70 | Focus: Kenya
Building a first high school in a remote African community
URL: http://vimeo.com/ondemand/buildinghope/57903529
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt1845213/
Bully (2011 film)
Lee Hirsch
Year: 2011 | Length: 98 | Focus: USA
How kids across the US are affected by bullying
URL: http://www.thebullyproject.com/
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt1682181/
Butterflies Program Documentary
Jerry Mintz
Year: 2004 | Length: - | Focus: India
Democratic school teaching homeless and working children in New Dehli
URL: http://www.educationrevolution.org/store/product/butterflies-program-documentary/
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Changing Education Paradigms
The RSA
Year: 2011 | Length: 12 | Focus: UK
A short film developed from "Do Schools Kill Creativity" by Sir Ken Robinson
URL: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/changing_education_paradigms/
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China’s Web Junkies
Hilla Medalia
Year: 2013 | Length: 90 | Focus: China
Chinese youth undergo treatment and "deprogramming" clinics for web addiction
URL: http://documentary.net/chinas-web-junkies-internet-addiction-documentary/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2064745/
Class Dismissed: Malala's Story
Adam B. Ellick
Year: 2009 | Length: 32 | Focus: Pakistan
9-year-old girl whose school was shut down by the Taliban
URL: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/class_dismissed_2004/
IMDB: http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000001835296/class-dismissed.html
Class Dismissed: Learning Outside the Classroom
Jeremy Stuart
Year: - | Length: - | Focus: USA
Follows family educating children outside of educational system (homeschool)
URL: http://classdismissedmovie.com/
IMDB: Unsure if finished
Classroom Chaos
Sylvia Thomas
Year: - | Length: - | Focus: UK
Undercover filming of out-of-control children in UK schools
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4472959.stm
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College Conspiracy
The NIA
Year: 2011 | Length: 62 | Focus: USA
NIA documentary about US government college price inflation
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC_RYgkkmcM
IMDB: http://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/08/nias-college-conspiracy-documentary-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
College INC
PBS
Year: 2011 | Length: 60 | Focus: USA
PBS documentary about private university recruitment and cxn to big business
URL: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/frontline_college_inc_0104/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1648400/
Conditions to Flourish
Nanda Currant
Year: - | Length: - | Focus: USA
Experiences of parents and students 5 - 15 yrs after decision to homeschool
URL: http://www.educationrevolution.org/store/product/conditions-to-flourish/
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Democracy Left Behind
Bob Gliner
Year: 2007 | Length: 57 | Focus: USA
What does it take for schools to teach civic participation?
URL: http://www.docmakeronline.com/democracy-left-behind.html
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Educating Peter
Gerardine Wurzburg
Year: 1992 | Length: 30 | Focus: USA
Student with Down's syndrome in regular third grade class
URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=930096
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0104167/
Education and Rural Poor
Year: 1984 | Length: | Focus: Canada
?
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IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237200/
Education, Education: What does an education get you?
Weijun Chen
Year: - | Length: 58 | Focus: China
How & why of education in China for 1st gen and rural poor students
URL: http://www.whypoverty.net/en/all-about/education-education/
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Education For What: Learning Social Responsibility
Bob Gliner
Year: - | Length: 57 | Focus: USA
Engaging students in service learning across 6 urban campuses
URL: http://www.docmakeronline.com/educationforwhat.html
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Education Under Fire
Jeffrey Kaufman
Year: 2011 | Length: 30 | Focus: Iran
Decentralized uni system serving Baha'i students across Iran
URL: http://educationunderfire.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2370480/
Empathy 101: A Refugee Curriculum Informs South Bronx Students
John Tulenko
Year: 2011 | Length: 8 | Focus: USA
Bronx students practice empathy for refugees and global issues
URL: http://learningmatters.tv/blog/on-pbs-newshour/watch-empathy-101-a-refugee-curriculum-informs-south-bronx-students/7273/
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Exposing the Global Road to Ruin Through Education
Charlotte Iserbyt
Year: 2013 | Length: - | Focus: USA
Filmed from conferences in 2012 & 2013
URL: http://www.amazon.com/Exposing-Global-Road-Through-Education/dp/0985553847
IMDB: http://www.newswithviews.com/iserbyt/iserbyt120.htm
Final Score
Soraya Nakasuwan
Year: 2007 | Length: 95 | Focus: Thailand
17-year old Thai students prepare for their university entrance exams
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IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0975668/
First Generation
Adam Fenderson
Year: 2011 | Length: 95 | Focus: USA
4 students set out to break the cycle of poverty by pursuing a college education
URL: http://www.firstgenerationfilm.com/about.php
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1218505/
First Graders
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Flock of Dodos
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Flunked
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Follow The Leader
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Free to Learn: A Radical Experiment in Education
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Future Learning - Unlock the Potential
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URL: http://documentary.net/future-learning-unlock-the-learning-potential-of-young-minds/
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Girl Rising
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GO PUBLIC: A Day in the Life of an American School District
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Growing Up Online
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Growing Up With Gadgets
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URL: http://documentary.net/growing-up-with-gadgets/
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Grown Without Schooling
Peter Kowalke
Year: 2001 | Length: 107 | Focus: USA
Profiled grown homeschoolers who wrote in magazine GWS
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IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481277/
Haiti’s Lost Children
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Hard Times at Douglass High
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Heart of Stone
Beth Toni Kruvant
Year: 2009 | Length: 84 | Focus: USA
Inner city school gangs and Jewish alumni restore school safety
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Heart of Stone (2009 film)
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Hi-Ho Mistahey!
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High Schools (film)
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Homegrown Knowledge
Year: 2013 | Length: 16 | Focus: USA
Homeschooling/unschooling of the O'Neill family
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trS6dwD7IP0
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I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School
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In God We Teach
Vic Losick
Year: 2011 | Length: 62 | Focus: USA
Student secretly records teacher and accuses him of proselytizing
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India's Free Lunch
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URL: http://documentary.net/indias-free-lunch/
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Indoctrinate U
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Innocence (2005 film)
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Invisible City
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Ithuteng
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Korean High School
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LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton
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Learn Free
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URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4mC53vuPs
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Lessons From The Real World
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Louder Than A Bomb
Greg Jacobs
Year: 2010 | Length: 99 | Focus: USA
Four Chicago youth as they prepare for world's largest youth poetry slam
URL: http://www.louderthanabombfilm.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540978/
Mad Hot Ballroom
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Mata Tigre – Change through Music in Venezuela: El Sistema
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Mitchell 20
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Most Valuable Players (film)
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Multiple Choice
Maggie Oliver
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Senior capstone documentary about homeschooling
URL: http://vimeo.com/41313120
IMDB: created by Shaun Boland, Catie McNamara, Maggie Oliver and Elizabeth Lorenzen.
New York Says Thank You
Scott Rettberg
Year: 2011 | Length: 86 | Focus: USA
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Our School
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Our School
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Our Spirits Don't Speak English
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Paper Clips
Elliot Berlin
Year: 2004 | Length: 82 | Focus: USA
TN middle school try to collect 6 million paperclips while studying the Holocaust
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Paper Clips Project
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Please Vote For Me
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Precious Knowledge
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Pressure Cooker (film)
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Prisoners of a White God
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Project Happiness
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Questions? The DeWitt High School Theater Department
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Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America's Achievement Culture
Vicki Abeles
Year: 2009 | Length: 85 | Focus: USA
Close look at the pressure on today's students
URL: http://www.racetonowhere.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1437364/
Resolved
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Resolved (film)
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Rock School
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Rock School (film)
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School For A Dollar
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URL: http://documentary.net/school-for-a-dollar/
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School: The Story of American Public Education
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Schooling the World
Carol Black
Year: 2010 | Length: 66 | Focus: USA / global
How the US school system assists in colonization
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IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1717207/
Self-taught African Teen became youngest Person to be invited to M.I.T.
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she++ Good Girl Gone Geek
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URL: http://documentary.net/she-documentary-good-girl-gone-geek/
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Sleeping Children Awake
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Small Wonders
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Spellbound
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Strangers No More
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Strangers No More
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Stupid In America
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Surfwise
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TEACH
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Teached
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Ten9Eight: Shoot For The Moon
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The Boys of Baraka
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The Cartel
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The Dialouge
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The Education of Mohammed Hussain
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The Education of Shelby Knox
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The Finland Phenomenon: Inside The World’s Most Surprising School System
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The Forbidden Education
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The Graduates/Los Graduados
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The Hobart Shakespeareans
Mel Stuart
Year: 1992 | Length: | Focus: USA
Rafe Esquith teachers 5th graders who don't speak English in urban L.A.
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The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman
Mollie Bruhn
Year: 2011 | Length: | Focus: USA
NYC public schools' teacher and parent response to "Waiting for Superman"
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The Lottery (2010 film)
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The New Public
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The Pact (2006 film)
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The Providence Effect
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The Providence Effect
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The Revisionaries
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The Rubber Room
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The Secret History of Western Education
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The Textbooks
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The War on Kids
Cevin Soling
Year: 2009 | Length: 95 | Focus: USA
How American schools are increasingly like prisons
URL: http://www.thewaronkids.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1505145/
The World According to Sesame Street
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The World's Best Prom
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This Illegal American Life
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URL: http://documentary.net/this-illegal-american-life/
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Thursday's Children
Lindsay Anderson
Year: 1954 | Length: 21 | Focus: UK
Follows children at The Royal School for the Deaf
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To Be And To Have
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Two Million Minutes
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Unfinished Spaces
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Unschooled
Jason Marsh
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The idiosyncratic interests of three unschooled children & their families
URL: http://www.unschooledfilm.com/about.html
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Unschooling: The Movie
Lee Stranaham
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This got backed, but did it get made?
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Us and Our Education
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Waiting for "Superman"
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WATCH: Closing The Vocabulary Gap In Chicago Preschools
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WATCH: Good School, Bad School
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We Are The People We've Been Waiting For
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Whatever were we thinking / How the Brain Learns
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URL: www.marktreadwell.com
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When Brummies Met Sindhis
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Why Do These Kids Love School?
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Wings of Evolution
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Wings of Evolution
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WISE documentaries
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World: A Schoolgirl’s Odyssey
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World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements
Chris Farina
Year: 2010 | Length: 60 | Focus: USA
URL: https://www.worldpeacegame.org/the-film
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612140/
Yuck: A 4th Grader’s Short Documentary About School Lunch
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