Plot: A Hollywood casting director leaves her lucrative career behind in order to teach filmmaking to youth in an impoverished community in South Africa. In an environment resistant towards art and film, the students learn the true power and impact of storytelling.
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Inspiring
Story: Film School Africa starts as Hollywood Casting Director Katie Taylor heads to South Africa to teach filmmaking to a neighbourhood that would never normally get this opportunity, by starting this small project, Katie manages to open up the lives of the students, who have been through their own tough times, ones they would never have spoken about, translating this to film.
While the project started small it grows into something that would help develop a new generation of filmmakers, giving people motivation to do something incredible, just with a simple opportunity.
Thoughts on Film School Africa
Final Thoughts – This is a documentary that does show the importance of giving people a chance, it shows how one American went into a neighbourhood where the people, the young people or children were never given opportunities to be filmmakers and reshaping how the people were giving chances, breaking down barriers the people never imagined. This documentary shows that you can give people hope, they can make something of themselves, not just for a career, as a person who learns that opening up is important in life. This proves that in a world where we have so many creative minds, it only takes a chance to unlock the potential, which will always give us a chance to see new ideas. One side of the world that the documentary isn’t afraid to hide away from is the racial divide, we do see both the black and white members of the school understanding the mistakes made in the past, that will still take time to heel, but the more they work together, they can learn to build a future together.
Overall: Inspirational.