Waiting for 'Superman' (2010)

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR ... See full summary »

Director:

Davis Guggenheim

Writers:

Davis Guggenheim, Billy Kimball

Stars:

Charles Adam, Charles Adams, Jonathan Alter

16 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Adam	...	Himself
Charles Adams	...	Himself
Jonathan Alter	...	Himself
Robert Balfanz	...	Himself
Harriet Ball	...	Herself
Steve Barr	...	Himself
Ms. Celeste Bell	...	Herself
The Black & McGee Family	...	Themselves
Geoffrey Canada	...	Himself
James Carter III	...	Himself
Todd Dickson	...	Himself
The Esparza Family	...	Themselves
Mike Feinberg	...	Himself
Adrian M. Fenty	...	Himself (as Adrian Fenty)
Howard Fuller	...	Himself

Storyline

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying "drop-out factories" and "academic sinkholes," methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

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Plot Keywords:

education | new york | los angeles california | redwood city california | woodside california | 

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Taglines:

The fate of our country won't be decided on a battlefield, it will be determined in a classroom.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some thematic material, mild language and incidental smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Esperando a Superman

Filming Locations:

118th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$139,033 (USA) (24 September 2010)

Gross:

$6,410,257 (USA) (17 December 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Electric Kinney Films, Participant Media, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a scene in which Bianca, one of the little girls, is reading from a book about someone taking apples and bringing them into the city to sell. The book she is reading is called "The Giving Tree" and was written by Shel Silverstein.

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Quotes

Geoffrey Canada: I was like what do you mean he's not real. And she thought I was crying because it's like Santa Claus is not real and I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.

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Connections

Edited from PBS NewsHour (1975)

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Soundtracks

Blue Danube Waltz Op. 314
Written by Johann Strauss (as Johann Strauss II)
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

One-sided propaganda - VIEWER BEWARE

I was disappointed by the one-sidedness of this movie. Without any comment from the teacher's unions, at least in the first hour the bias is palpable. I turned off the movie when I realised it was trying to blame teachers and unions for all the problems in our education system, an education system that in itself is fraudulent.

As a former teacher, I know how difficult it can be to teach a classroom full of innercity kids - sometimes 35 to a class. Research shows that small class size helps with learning tremendously, and those teachers this movie is labelling 'bad' - are not being given a chance to speak. I'm sure they have valuable perspectives to add, and this movie would be more credible if it allowed those teachers to speak out.

With the aim to reward 'good' teachers, what exactly do you measure what is good. A teacher should be a model of emotional intelligence, adept at peaceful conflict resolution, have excellent communication, compassion, understanding, positive enthusiasm as well as intelligence. A teacher should also care for the child's emotional well-being and whole self. It seems the producers of this movie are solely concerned with math and reading scores - which are such a superficial measurement for success in a teacher- student relationship. Unfortunately the education system has convinced the majority of parents that this is the measurement to use. The education system has been set up that way, and it is a fraud.

I would like to see the teacher's unions come up with their own documentary - then let's see the OTHER side of the story.

Viewers beware of this movie, but most of you won't will you, because you have bought into the system, you have allowed the programers to delude you into thinking the education system should all be about reading, writing and maths.