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.
Study Guide Themes Archives: Family
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.
Something Necessary
Kenya erupts in widespread violence following the results of a controversially disputed Presidential election in 2007. In the wake of that violence, Something Necessary tracks the lives of multiple characters trying to rebuild their lives and atone for their actions, doing whatever they can to move forward and change themselves for the better.
Sole Survivor
In the history of aviation, there have been only 14 sole survivors of commerical airplane disasters. Most have never soken publically about the psychological toll of this experience and the emotions that have followed them afterwards. Sole Survivor brings together four of these people together to share their complex, deeply personal stories for the first time, seeking solace in their shared histories as they relive the most harrowing moment of their lives.
Shake the Dust
Chronicling the rise and influence of breakdancing and hip-hop culture across the globe, Shake The Dust tells the inspiring stories of the third-world communities that hip-hop has resonanted with the most, honoring the specific rituals of each culture as well as the passions that unite them.
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