Frontrunners
Nov 28 - Dec 03, 2008
(Caroline Suh, USA, 2008, Beta-SP, 80 min)
Grueling primaries, televised debates, newspaper endorsements, tense runoffs, questions of experience, charges of influence peddling and considerable schmoozing... We're not recalling the last two years of presidential politics; welcome to election season at Stuyvesant, NYC's public high school for gifted students. With an alumni list that includes Tim Robbins, Thelonious Monk, Jimmy Cagney and Lucy Liu—not to mention numerous prominent politicians, businessmen and Nobel laureates—Stuyvesant is one of the nation's most exclusive schools, accepting only 3% of the 25,000 kids who apply. This documentary is not just about the drama of the school's presidential race —although there is plenty—it's also filled with some terrific real-life characters. Who will you root for?
Appropriate for all ages.
"Suh captures ambition and heartbreak as part of the routine of adolescence, the period you start to realize how socializing works." —New York Press
"These politicians may be teens, but they grapple with constituencies, campaign strategies, and demands on their time with a spirit and seriousness of purpose suitable for the highest office in the land." —Entertainment Weekly
Watch the trailer: