What should I show for my Ethnic Studies Film Festival?

Post date: 2022-05-19 12:47:30

Hey Mefites! What films could I show to 14-15 year olds to tell stories of marginalized communities?

I teach Ethnic Studies to freshmen in high school. My students are all 14-15 years old. The class focuses on systems of oppression, injustice, racism, and racial and ethnic groups who get marginalized from the mainstream US History classes. (For example, when we studied Japanese-American Internment during WWII, we read Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, we read part of They Call Us Enemy by George Takei, we watched Takei's TEDTalk, and we spoke to a woman who went to the camps at ~6 years old.)

The end of the year is upon us, and I will have a few empty days in the schedule, but I don't want to just 'fill the hours'. I would like to have the "Ethnic Studies Film Festival". I plan to show Summer of Soul on one of the days. I feel like I have not done enough to teach about the various Asian/Pacific Islander communities in the US (not sure what to include?) After each film, students will write a review (complete with number of stars). At the end, I want them to write a reflection of how the films added to their existing knowledge of the content. Or something. I'm not sure yet.

This is where you come in... what titles can you provide, with the following caveats:

PG-13 or lower (My admin are cool, but I am cautious about being "too controversial".)
Preferably in English
We have already seen Coco and The Green Book, so those are out.
Short films are fine! (I have already had a recommendation for Hair Love, and it is only four minutes long.)
I'm fine with documentaries, but fiction might do better with keeping the critters engaged?

What do you think? What might be good films to show a bunch of 14-15 year olds?

Please click Here to read the full story.