DOCLANDS 2021

HOW TO REGISTER:

Review the complete list of DocLands Education programs, and select the films you would like your class(es) to view.
Click on the REGISTER NOW button, and fill out the form to let us know your film selections and how many students will take part.
You may choose more than one film, but you must fill out a separate registration form for each one.
Once we receive your registration(s), we will contact you to confirm the details of your order in case you need to make any changes or updates.
After your order is confirmed, we will send you simple login instructions for you and your students to access your film(s) on the CFI Education Online platform. *Note: We have streamlined this process so your students can now all use your email address and one password to log in. We will not need email addresses for all participants.
Once you log in to the CFI Education Online platform for your virtual DocLands Film Festival field trip, you and your students will have free access to your selected film(s), the pre-recorded Q&A(s), and the curriculum resources all in one place.

All films will be available to stream from May 3–16 on our CFI Education Online platform.

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CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS

GRADES 9-12

Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane met in college, became a couple, and formed an immediate artistic bond. In 1978, they moved to New York City where they created The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Then, AIDS struck, ravaging the city’s arts community. Zane died of AIDS in 1988, leaving Jones devastated and the company’s future in doubt. Still grieving and anguished, Jones summoned the company’s dancers to the studio where they took the first improvisational steps of what eventually became D-Man in the Waters, a direct response to the AIDS crisis. Directed by dancer/choreographer Rosalynde LeBlanc and Emmy®-winning cinematographer Tom Hurwitz, Can You Bring It? is a joyous exploration of Jones’ most successful dance. LeBlanc, who performed D-Man as a member of the company, is now a member of the dance department at Loyola Marymount University where she is shown teaching and inspiring her students as they take ownership of their own performance of the dance. Directors Rosalynde LeBlanc & Tom Hurwitz| US 2020 | 90 min

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with directors Rosalynde LeBlanc & Tom Hurwitz

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HAVANA LIBRE

GRADES 6-12

Not your average, predictable sports movie, Havana Libre is about chasing an elusive dream and also about a country and a people who in so many ways have been exiled from the rest of the world. This inspiring new documentary offers up an exciting window into the lives of a passionate group of young Cubans led by “surf pioneers” Yaya Guerrero and Frank Gonzáles Guerra, who are determined to make a place for surfing in their country’s cultural identity. Although surfing has recently become an official Olympic sport, it has long been an illegal activity in Cuba. This doesn’t stop these underground athletes from riding the waves while also taking on the political challenges to legitimize their passion and share it with others. With beautiful cinematography and intimate access, director Corey McLean takes us on a five-year journey with this group of engaging women and men as they attempt to overcome borders. Director Corey McLean | US 2020 | 83 min | In Spanish with English subtitles

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with director Corey McLean

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INHABITANTS: AN INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVE

GRADES 5-12

Climate change is undeniably the most pressing issue we are facing in our lifetime, and how we should deal with it is still being debated. It may appear that there are no viable solutions, but perhaps the answer lies in plain sight. For millennia, Native Americans have successfully managed their natural resources despite discrimination and forced colonization. Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective takes us on a journey through deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies to see how various Indigenous communities are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. We visit a Hopi farmer in Arizona growing crops without dependence on rainfall, Blackfeet herders of Montana restoring the lost buffalo herds, the Karnuk people of Northern California who have perfected controlled burnings in their forests, and Hawaiian natives who are reclaiming commercial plantations in exchange for food secure gardens. It soon becomes quite clear that as the climate crisis escalates these time-tested practices of North America’s original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in our rapidly changing world. Directors Costa Boutsikaris & Anna Palmer | US 2020 | 76 min

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with director Costa Boutsikaris

This film is also part of our year-round Environmental Youth Forum

LAST DAYS AT PARADISE HIGH

GRADES 9-12

After the most destructive fire in California history destroys the town of Paradise, the end of the school year takes on added meaning for the seniors and teacher at the local high school. Told from the perspective of America’s youngest climate refugees, Last Days at Paradise High is an intimate portrait of finding home after it’s gone. Directors Emily Thomas & Derek Knowles | US 2020 | 24 min

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with directors Emily Thomas & Derek Knowles and film subjects Kody Lesch, Virginia Partain, and Harmony Von Stockhausen

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THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS

GRADES 9-12

* AVAILABLE TO CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS ONLY

Wildfires, floods, devastation, extinction: the gravity of our existential climate crisis becomes a deeply intimate rumination on both personal and global grief in Jennifer Abbott’s The Magnitude of All Things. Still reeling from the death of her sister from cancer, Abbott—who co-directed the DocLands feature, The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel—began tracing parallels between her experience of loss and the overwhelming shared sorrow of people on the frontlines of climate change. Through exquisite dream-like footage and letters and poems penned by her sister Saille, Abbot begins to make peace with grief, finding hope and beauty in the poignancy of moments shared. Refusing to be defeatist, Abbot’s powerful cinematic journey illustrates how deep acceptance of death and climate change provide profound lessons toward accepting life. With rich sound design and stunning photography, The Magnitude of All Things traverses the Earth in search of how we can turn grief into necessary action. Director Jennifer Abbott | US 2020 | 86 min

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with director Jennifer Abbott

This film is also part of our year-round Environmental Youth Forum

A ONCE AND FUTURE PEACE

GRADES 9-12

Throughout ancient and modern times, Peacemaking Circles have long been used by Native American cultures as a practice to resolve conflict between individuals and their community. Based on Indigenous customs, these Circles provide a safe space for honest dialogue where barriers and stereotypes are broken down and damaged relationships can be healed. In his powerful new film, Emmy Award®-winning, San Francisco-based director Eric Daniel Metzger (Reporter, A Film About Animals (For My Children to Watch When They Are Older)) creatively weaves animation and live action footage together to track a Mexican American teenager facing four felony charges as he struggles through the program, shepherded by a former Cambodian gang leader who is serving as his mentor. Filled with heart and passion, A Once and Future Peace offers a rare opportunity to explore how Peacemaking Circles have been reimagined to keep our youth out of prison, garnering positive results in pilot restorative justice programs around the country. Director Eric Daniel Metzgar | US 2020 | 96 min | In English and Spanish with English subtitles

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with director Eric Daniel Metzgar and film subjects Saroeum Phoung & Harold Gatensby

SHORT DOCS: BE TRUE TO YOU

TOTAL PROGRAM 41 MIN | GRADES 4-8

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Growing up can be hard when you feel like you don’t fit in. In this inspiring collection of short documentaries, we meet some motivated and talented kids who know that following their passion is how they learn to cope, thrive, and stay true to themselves.

Includes pre-recorded conversations with director Øyvind Aamli and composer David Nicholas (Being Someone Else); director Ellie Wen and film subjects Emma Bethel & Maddie Woo (The Missfits); and director Whitney Legge and film subject Maryam (Pigeon Girl)

BEING SOMEONE ELSE
As thirteen-year-old Imogen creates her outfit for a ComicCon cosplay convention, we discover why dressing up as someone else is more than just a fun hobby for the autistic teenager. Director Øyvind Aamli | US 2020 | 9 min

THE MISSFITS
An all-girls robotics team in San Francisco competes to smash stereotypes and prove themselves in a male-dominated field, while also trying to get through high school. Director Ellie Wen | US 2021 | 21 min

PIGEON GIRL
Maryam is a 10-year old girl from San Francisco on a mission to protect and save injured pigeons, but her unusual obsession with the birds can also lead to bullying at school. Director Whitney Legge | US 2021 | 11 min

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TRY HARDER!

GRADES 6-12

* AVAILABLE TO CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS ONLY

“When you first come in from middle school, you’ll want to cry.” These words, spoken by a wizened Lowell High School student at the beginning of Debbie Lum’s delightful Try Harder!, describe the school’s well-deserved reputation as San Francisco’s number one ranked public high school and academic pressure cooker. Inside the classroom and at home, we follow Sophia, Shea, Rachael, Alvan, and Ian as they try their hardest to attract the attention of their “dream” school (invariably, Stanford). Striving for college admission is not simply a matter of academic achievement. Each must grapple with challenging issues, from tense family dynamics to anti-Asian and anti-Black discrimination. When it comes time for the students to find out what their college fates will be, our hearts go out to them; not because we care so much where they’ll end up, but because we’ve grown to admire who they are becoming on the journey there. Director Debbie Lum | US 2021 | 85 min

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with director Debbie Lum, film subjects Sophia Wu & Ian Wang, high school student Gabriela Rosenfeld, and career & college specialist Becky Bjursten

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WOOD ON WATER

GRADES 5-12

Nine teenagers. Two camp leaders. One filmmaker. Forty days in canoes in the remote Canadian wilderness. Over six summer weeks, this intrepid all-girl group paddles—and carries on their heads—traditional wood-canvas canoes through a network of streams, lakes, rivers, mudholes and muskeg bogs, exploring their physical surroundings and their inner selves. This slow, steady, strenuous adventure is a counter-cultural summer spent free from society’s stresses and expectations and immersed in the joys of nature. It is a journey that is bug-bitten, cold, and water-logged but also joyous, inspiring, and life-changing. Director Hannah Taylor-Bird | US 2020 | 45 min

Includes pre-recorded conversations with director James Burns and film subject Autumn Peltier (The Water Walker) and director Hannah Maia (Wood on Water)

This film is also part of our year-round Environmental Youth Forum

SHOWN WITH

THE WATER WALKER

At age 14, Anishinaabe water activist Autumn Peltier was named the chief water commissioner by the Anishinabek Nation. An influential figure in the Indigenous and global youth-led environmental movement, Autumn travels from Manitoulin Island, Ontario to New York City to address the United Nations, while sharing her roots, passion and perseverance. Director James Burns | Canada 2020 | 13 min

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YOUTH V GOV

GRADES 5-12

In 2015, 21 ambitious young activists from ages 11 to 22 brought a groundbreaking lawsuit against the United States government. They came from different states and different cultural backgrounds, but they shared one thing in common: they had all witnessed the devastating effects of climate change. Their monumental legal battle is thoroughly detailed in Christi Cooper’s engrossing Youth v Gov. Cooper follows the plaintiffs as they take on the world’s most powerful government, suing for a constitutional right to a safe climate system and demanding a recovery plan that will stabilize the crisis they’ve inherited. Going up against mountains of evidence from climatologists, whistleblowers, scientific experts, and the testimonies of the plaintiffs, the government takes extraordinary measures to get the case dismissed. But these empowered youths refuse to back down. Youth v Gov is an inspiring tale of hope offering a voice to the future of the country. Director Christi Cooper | US 2020 | 110 min

Includes a pre-recorded conversation with director Christi Cooper, producer Olivia Ahnemann, and film subjects Nathan Baring & Jacob Lebel

This film is also part of our year-round Environmental Youth Forum

DOCLANDS EDUCATION IS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM

CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS

HAVANA LIBRE

INHABITANTS: AN INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVE

LAST DAYS AT PARADISE HIGH

THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS

A ONCE AND FUTURE PEACE

SHORT DOCS: BE TRUE TO YOU

TRY HARDER!

WOOD ON WATER

THE WATER WALKER

YOUTH V GOV

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