2015 Annual Meeting Film Expo
 
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The AERA Film Expo will be held in conjunction with the 2015 Annual Meeting. The theme, “Toward Justice: Culture, Language and Heritage in Education Research and Praxis,” examines scholarly engagements in alignment with the interests of the educationally marginalized, dispossessed, and excluded. The pursuit of justice can be understood and assessed from various vantage points. One such angle of vision is the question around which the film expo is organized: “And How Are the Children?” (Kesserian injera? in Swahili).  This traditional greeting of the Maasai warriors in East Africa acknowledges the high value the Maasai place on the well-being of the children.

The film expo is intended to provide opportunities for meeting attendees to interrogate the evidence of various forms of injustice, particularly regarding issues of culture, language, and heritage. The films will illuminate justice-in-action in the everyday lives of people, locally and globally.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

How to Search the Online Program Schedule:
To search the Online Program Schedule: login, visit My AERA, scroll to “2015 AERA Annual Meeting,” click “Online Program Portal,” and select “View the Online Program.” 

2015 Annual Meeting Film Expo Films

2015 Annual Meeting Film Expo Films
Sessions are listed chronologically
 

Thursday, April 16

Summer of Gods

Thursday April 16, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

The Summer of Gods is a short film about a young girl named Lili who unites with her Afro-Brazilian religious ancestry on a summer visit with family to their ancestral village in rural Brazil. During her stay, she encounters Orishas (African gods) who help her find peace with a gift that has previously vexed her. The film is set in the Northeast of Brazil where Afro-Brazilian religious traditions remain strong. Lili's Grandma upholds Orisha traditions as an admired local priestess, but to ensure these traditions carry on after she passes, the gifted Lili is led on a mystical adventure of initiation through a nearby forest.

Film Website
 

Friday, April 17

The Price of Memory

Friday April 17, 8:15 to 10:15 a.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

It’s 2002. Queen Elizabeth II visits Jamaica for her Golden Jubilee. While there, she is petitioned by a group of Rastafari for slavery reparations. For Rastafari, reparations is linked to returning to Africa, homeland of their enslaved ancestors. The film traces this petition and a reparations lawsuit against the Queen. In the background are stories of earlier Rastas who pursued reparations in the 1960s. It explores the impact of slavery on independent Jamaica and how Britain benefitted from slavery. We follow the filmmaker’s journey during which the question of reparations reaches Parliament in Jamaica and the UK. Filmed over a decade, The Price of Memory is a compelling exploration of the enduring legacies of slavery and the case for reparations.

Film Website
 

Tested
Friday April 17, 10:35 to 12:05 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech: some of NYC's top ranked public high schools.  Each year, thousands of 8th graders compete to secure a coveted spot at these elite schools by taking the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, the SHSAT. While black and Latino youth constitute 70 percent of the city's total public school population, at some of these high schools, they represent less than five percent. On the other hand, Asian Americans and whites form supermajorities at all three. In response to these concerns about racial imbalance, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a complaint in September 2012 with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights to challenge the admission policy's sole reliance on the SHSAT. This film follows a diverse group of students trying to pass the test, as well as the issues surrounding access to a high-quality public education, affirmative action, and the model-minority myth.

Film Website

Living Thinkers: An Autobiography of Black Women in the Ivory Tower 
Friday April 17, 12:25 to 1:55 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Living Thinkers examines the intersection of race, class, and gender in the experiences of contemporary black women professors through their education narratives from girlhood to the present. Although last part of the 20th century saw more black women entering the university, securing higher-ranking administrative positions, and achieving tenure and promotion, the progress continues to be slow. Through frank and sometimes humorous conversations, the women share experiences of being black girls and black women in the “chilly climate” of American educational institutions. In spite of continued struggles, Black women in the Ivory Tower continue to persevere. Living Thinkers reveals the travails, the disappointments and the triumphs of becoming Black women professors in the US.

Film Website  

Schooling the World
Friday April 17, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

All over the world, volunteers build schools in traditional societies, convinced that school is the only way to a 'better' life for their children.  But is this true? What really happens when we replace a traditional culture's knowledge with modern education?

Beautifully shot in Ladakh, India, SCHOOLING THE WORLD weaves the voices of Ladakhi people through a conversation between original thinkers Helena Norberg-Hodge, Vandana Shiva, Wade Davis, and Manish Jain to create a challenging, sometimes funny, ultimately disturbing look at the “human monoculture” of modern schooling. In the end, the film calls for a “deeper dialogue” with these ancient sustainable societies in which we realize we have as much to learn as we have to teach.

Film Website

Spiral Bound
Friday April 17, 4:05 to 6:05 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Spiral Bound is a documentary about the unlikely union of eight creative high school students from a youth development program and a group of liberal arts college students over the course of one summer. Together, these education activists are seeking social justice not only in the public school system but also in the higher education arena. On this journey, both groups learn the power of the arts in giving a voice to those who need it the most, including themselves. From the inner city streets of Charlotte and the quaint college town of Davidson to the bustling steps of the US Capitol, these young people stand together to change the face of education through their courageous narratives.

Film Website
 

Saturday, April 18

Concerning Violence 
Saturday April 18, 8:15 to 10:15 a.m.
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

This potent, arresting, and surprisingly emotional film artfully elucidates Frantz Fanon's psychiatric and psychological analysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization on the individual and the nation. Directed by Göran Hugo Olsson (Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975). Includes a video introduction by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

Film Website

Stolen Education
Saturday April 18, 10:35 to 12:05 p.m.
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Stolen Education documents the untold story of Mexican American school children who challenged discrimination in Texas schools in the 1950’s and changed the face of education in the state.
As a 9 year-old second grader, Lupe had been forced to remain in the first grade for three years, not because of her academic performance but solely because she was Mexican American. Degraded for speaking Spanish, Mexican American students were relegated to a “beginner,” “low,” and then “high” first grade – a practice that was not uncommon across the Southwest. 

The film portrays the courage of these young people, testifying in an era when fear and intimidation were used to maintain racial hierarchy and control. The students won the case, but for almost sixty years the case was never spoken about in the farming community where they lived despite its significance.

Film Website

Victorious Voices from The Village Nation
Saturday April 18, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Imagine wiping out the “achievement gap” in high schools when most people think it’s way too late. The passion and power of voices from The Village Nation (TVN) tell the stories of African American youth, and their teachers and administrators of diverse ethnic backgrounds, who are implementing this phenomenally successful approach that Oprah called a “miracle.” In urban, suburban, traditional and charter schools, students are transforming their collective consciousness as they achieve academic, social and cultural excellence –far exceeding targets set by officials. TVN builds solidarity across the student body so everyone benefits. Catch a glimpse of this inspiring work and interact with staff who are honored to have served schools in California, the East, Midwest, South and beyond.

Film Website
 

Sunday, April 19

Death Metal Angola
Sunday April 19, 8:15 to 10:15 a.m.  
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

International Award winning Death Metal Angola follows a loving Angolan couple, Sonia and Wilker, whose love for death metal music is bringing hope to the town and children of Huambo and Angola as a country. The devastating reality of Angola’s history of wars and civil unrest has left the country’s people torn, broken, and starving for something to give them peace. Sonia and Wilker’s dream to put on the first national rock festival ignites the emotions of the Angolan people, and helps them heal from the war-stricken path Angola has left behind. This engaging reality of Angola touches the heart of the viewer and sheds new light on a music genre that is not well understood.

Film Website

Marie's Dictionary
Sunday April 19, 10:35 to 12:05 p.m.
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

This short documentary tells the story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language and the dictionary she created in an effort to keep her language alive.

Film Website

We Still Live Here - As Nutayuneân
Sunday April 19, 12:25 to 1:55 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Celebrated every Thanksgiving as the Indians who saved the Pilgrims from starvation, the Wampanoag Tribes of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard are now saying -- in their native tongue -- "As Nutayuneân,"... We Still Live Here.

The Wampanoag's ancestors ensured the Pilgrims' survival, and lived to regret it. Now, a cultural revival is taking place. Spearheaded by celebrated linguist and MacArthur "genius" award recipient Jessie "Little Doe" Baird, the Wampanoag are bringing their language home.

It began with a recurring dream: familiar people from another time, speaking an incomprehensible language. These visions sent Baird on a journey that uncovered hundreds of documents written in Wampanoag, led to a Masters in Linguistics at MIT, and resulted in an unprecedented feat of language reclamation.

Film Website 

The E-Word: A Documentary on the Ebonics Debate
Sunday April 19, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

This documentary critically considers the Ebonics Resolution as well as the myriad influences on the public debate (or lack thereof) that erupted as a result of the Resolution. Through the use of archival footage and interviews with scholars, policymakers and, most importantly, those directly involved with the Resolution, the documentary pursues a coherent and comprehensive engagement of Ebonics.

Film Website 

Panel and Discussion. Documentary Film as Educational Scholarship: Expanding Methodology, Approach, and Perspective
Sunday April 19, 4:05 to 6:05 p.m.  
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

This panel and discussion will examine the intersections between documentary filmmaking and educational scholarship and praxis. Held in conjunction with the 2015 AERA Film Expo, Jonathan Gayles (The E-Word), Enrique Alemán (Stolen Education) and Barbara Temple (Spiral Bound) will discuss their documentary work and the manner in which they utilize visual discourse, experiential knowledge and narrative representations as methods for conducting and understanding educational research and social justice. Those interested in pursuing educational research in documentary film are encouraged to attend.
 

Monday, April 20

The Watsons Go To Birmingham  
Monday April 20 2015, 8:15 to 10:15 a.m.  
Sheraton, Second Level - Michigan B

This 2013 film, based on the 1995 Newbery Medal story by Christopher Paul Curtis, goes beyond the novel to include essential background knowledge on a civil rights movement landmark, the Children’s March of May, 1963, both through documentary footage and expanded historical fiction. For the screen, “Watsons”, adapted by screenwriter, producer, Tonya Lewis Lee, premiered nationally September 2013, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the milestone 1963 summer in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Invited speaker, Professor Robert L. Selman and doctoral student, Tracy Elizabeth, (Harvard Graduate School of Education,) co-created the open-sourced Educator’s Resource for the film, building upon evidence-based practices in literacy and social studies, as well as developmental research on historical understanding, ethical reflection, and youth civic engagement. 
 
Film Website
Free Educator’s Resource (PDF)

Living Undocumented: High School, College, and Beyond
Monday April 20, 10:35 to 12:05 p.m.  
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Living Undocumented is a 17-minute documentary that explores the lives of diverse undocumented immigrant youth to illustrate the realities, challenges and opportunities they face through high school, college, and beyond. It features 6 DREAMers, who portray the realities of our nation’s immigration system and its impact on undocumented youth.  The documentary is intended for all audiences, but with the accompanying lesson plan and resource guide for students and educators, it is especially useful in secondary classes.

Film Website

Miss Chinatown USA
Monday April 20, 12:25 to 1:55 p.m. 
Sheraton Hotel, Michigan B, Second Level

Joining the Miss Chinatown Pageant was the last thing on Katie Au’s mind. She never learned to speak Chinese and didn’t fit in with other Chinese-American girls.

Then her mother entered her into the contest, and her father decided to play pageant coach.

“Miss Chinatown, U.S.A.” is the comical and touching story of a young woman who competes in one of America’s oldest ethnic beauty pageants. As Katie travels from her native Seattle to the bustling streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown, she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery— changing our notions of what it means to be young, female, and Asian in America.

Film Website 

 
 
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