The poignant new film every parent and student should see, Race to Nowhere comes to LA and NY today

Perhaps one of the most important films created in recent memory, Race to Nowhere asks the tough questions and provides real solutions for the problems plaguing the education system in America. Filmmaker and concerned mother Vicki Abeles poignantly looks inside herself, her children, and our achievement based culture with a fresh lens, creating a film that every parent and student should watch together, hopefully opening the path of dialogue to work cooperatively with each other for the purpose of improving the quality of life and the learning skills of all students. The film will be opening in LA and NY today, Sept 10th for one week at Laemmle Sunset 5 in LA with daily screenings at 3:15PM and 7:30PM and at the IFC Center in NYC with daily screenings at 5:00PM and 9:10PM.

In Race to Nowhere, filmmaker Vicki Abeles looks at the achievement based culture overwhelming the education system to the point that young people are facing stress and failing health in the face of an insanely overloaded schedule that allows for no normal childhood developmental time like playing, dreaming, as well as discovering their passions and who they are. These ideas are cast aside in favor of getting high test scores, getting into the "best" college so you can get a great high paying job after, and in many cases dehumanizing students into as Darrick Smith, a brilliant educator from Bay Area, puts it, mechanized robots and young professionals from a very early age. Abeles skillfully interweaves many points of view from students, parents, teachers, administrators, tutors, and psychologists, among others to present a clear, complete, and powerful story that one cannot help but be consumed by. After watching it once, I watched again right away. It is that powerful of a film and one that will undoubtedly help to spur change that can help the youth of this country become happier and healthier adults.

While looking at another recent film about the educational system, Davis Guggenheim's Waiting For Superman, it was clear how strong of a piece Abeles has created. Waiting For Superman was a big blame party, blame the teachers, blame the administrators, blame the system, while the parents and students are victims of this travesty. True, they are victims, but they are part of the problem as well. Abeles clearly sees herself and parents as being partly responsible for the current state of education, pushing their kids to absurd limits, not putting pressure on the schools to stop encroaching on the life of students outside of the classroom, and failing to teach their children that success in life is not just based on how much money you make. Guggenheim simply put out a piece of propaganda that pushes for charter schools over public schools, never once acknowledging that responsibility for the failures of the education system should be spread around to all the parties involved, not just the educators. In Race to Nowhere, solutions are presented, success stories are shared as well as heartbreaking failures, all with the purpose of simply showing reality through the eyes of a parent of three children mired in the failing education system.

Whatever your politics, it is clear the education system in this country is broken. As one of the most advanced countries in the world, why are American students not succeeding as much as students from other countries, it seems absurd right? But after viewing Race to Nowhere, it will become crystal clear that the emphasis at school is in the wrong place. Students are simply regurgitating information for a test then they forget about it. They fail to assemble the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to succeed as an adult, instead, becoming mimics, followers, and yes people. Focusing on individuality is paramount to improving the lives of these students and Abeles assembles a conglomerate of evidence supporting this idea. Most importantly, she does so without preaching from a soap box, instead offering a wide range of opinions and the real feelings of students to understand the situation, not just fancy graphs and numbers that can be contrived in any fashion to support an argument.

A perfect example is Abeles' son Zak who is in 3rd grade. He already feels pressure and stress, he is talking about how he knows he needs to do well in school to get into a good college. This is not what 3rd graders are supposed to be thinking about, sorry. They need time with their friends, learning on their own by being with their peers in different settings, and most of all, they need to be taught that they are individuals, not just cogs in a giant machine. I cannot stress enough how brilliantly Abeles tells this story, how powerfully it affected me, and I do not even have children. I can see the pain in parents and students around me all the time, and it is a helpless feeling. But with parents and filmmakers like Abeles leading the way, perhaps a better future, a happier future is possible for this new generation of Americans. It makes me wish there were more than one Vicki Abeles in this world as she clearly sees the need for change and possesses the passion to make it happen.

Be sure to head over to the film's website for more information on how you can see this poignant film, as it will help you and your children, I assure you. For continuing coverage of films like Race to Nowhere and other film festival gems in the future, you can receive these articles directly as they are published by clicking on the “Subscribe” button at the top of this piece. You can also follow me on Twitter by searching for ericshlapack or by clicking the link below.

5 out of 5 Stars

For more info:
Race to Nowhere website
Laemmle Sunset 5 in LA
IFC Center in NYC
Review of Waiting for Superman
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