The Way He Looks details the trials and tribulations of growing up for three teenagers as they struggle to navigate the awkwardness of adolescence. Leonardo and Giovanna have been best friends since they were very young. Now, in the midst of their teen years, they are both confronted with the challenges of budding sexuality, the struggle for independence, and defining themselves as adults. When they befriend the new kid in school, Gabriel, their seemingly static world is turned upside down as they question their relationships with one another. If being a teenager isn’t hard enough, their situation is further complicated by Leonardo’s blindness
Study Guide Themes Archives: Classic Cinema
We Are The Radical Monarchs
Set in Oakland, a city with a deep history of social justice movements, We Are The Radical Monarchs documents the Radical Monarchs – a California-based alternative to the Scout movement for girls of color, aged 8-13. It’s members earn badges for completing units on social justice including being an LGBTQ ally, the environment, and disability justice. The group was started by two, fierce, queer women of color, Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest as a way to address and center her daughter’s experience as a young brown girl. Their work is anchored in the belief that adolescent girls of color need dedicated spaces and that the foundation for this innovative work must also be rooted in fierce inter-dependent sisterhood, self-love, and hope.
Soul Food Junkies
Filmmaker Byron Hurt offers a fascinating exploration of the soul food tradition, its deep-rooted relevance to black cultural identity, and its continued popularity desite the known danges of high-fat, high-calorie diets. Hurt further studies the food industry machinations and socioeconimic conditions of predominantly black neighborhoods, examining the cultural politics of food and the comlex interactions of identity, flavor, power, and health.
Spellbound
Spellbound follows eight kids on their quest to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee. This Oscar-nominated entry documents the intense experience of the National Spelling Bee as seen through the eyes of eight young spellers, with viewers glimpsing the kids’ private lives as they train for and compete in the ultimate cerebral showdown.
Notorious
American spy film noir directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains as three people whose lives become intimately entangled during an espionage operation.