OT: OUR TOWN (A Famous Play In An Infamous Town) -- Scott Hamilton Kennedy, dir

©2002
studio: Film Movement
production company: A Stressbox Inc., OT Films
dir: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
cast: Catherine Borek, Karen Greene, Ebony Starr Norwood-Brown, Archie Posada, Armia Robinson, Jackie Oliver
documentary
winner of 5 film festival awards

A high school in Compton, California attempts to produce the play Our Town, which would be the first play produced at the school in more than 20 years.

This was a very interesting documentary. It definitely hit on some important issues, such as the need for more than just sports in schools and the the fact that teenagers are mostly the same, no matter where they come from.

I really liked the impression that despite being a ghetto community, Compton really is as much like the Grovers Corners in Our Town as any other city, as it is the people that make up a community.

If there is any failing of this film, it is it's attempts to get too much in to the film. How these students live their lives, how the rehearsal process goes, comparing/contrasting Compton with Grovers Corners, the need for arts in the schools, etc etc etc.

All in all, a very good film, and I'm extremely interested in the Film Movement series.