Waiting for "Superman"

Sep 24, 2010

1h 51m

★ 6.9

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

Overview

Gripping, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Waiting for Superman is an impassioned indictment of the American school system from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Electric Kinney Films

Walden Media

Participant

Paramount Vantage

Waiting for "Superman" Trailers

Cast

Self

Charles Adams

Self

Jonathan Alter

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

0.0

Bitter Sweet Ballad

Jun 25, 2025

This is a story about youth with music. It all happens at the Dandelion School, Beijing’s first middle school specifically established for the children of migrant workers. Every year when new pupils arrive, Ms. Yuan Xiaoyan, who has worked in the school choir for eight years, would choose a group of music-loving first-years with solid musical foundations to join the choir. A new group of children join the choir while those who have advanced to the second year have to discuss with their families their future choices. For choir members, their music career in middle school will eventually stop due to the pressure of high school entrance examinations and the inevitable parting. But along this journey accompanied by music, they have been savoring the joys and sorrows of their youth, burying them deep in their hearts, and transforming them into growth-promoting nutrients.

6.2

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

Jan 21, 2008

Morgan Spurlock tours the Middle East to discuss the war on terror with Arabic people.

0.0

Backpack Full of Cash

Oct 22, 2016

Documentary warning about the decline of American public schools as they become more and more privatized.

8.5

The Making of a Japanese

Apr 5, 2024

Intimately following 1st and 6th graders at a public elementary school in Tokyo, we observe kids learning the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society.

5.9

The Aristocrats

Jul 29, 2005

One hundred superstar comedians tell the same very, VERY dirty, filthy joke--one shared privately by comics since Vaudeville.

7.1

Casino Jack and the United States of Money

May 9, 2010

A probing investigation into the lies, greed and corruption surrounding D.C. super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his cronies.

0.0

Soul on Ice: Past, Present and Future

Oct 21, 2017

Soul On Ice: Past, Present, and Future is a film that presents and retells the unknown contributions of black athletes in ice hockey. For untold decades, hockey was seen as a homogeneous sport, exciting to watch but played by one kind of player. But people deserve to now know of the exploits of athletes who dared to stand out, and dared to make the sport their own. These Black athletes dared to give their sport soul.

0.0

Oyler

Oct 30, 2015

A Cincinnati public school fights to break the cycle of poverty in its Urban Appalachian neighborhood, where senior Raven Gribbins aims to become the first in her troubled family to graduate and go to college. When Principal Craig Hockenberry's job is threatened, it becomes clear it's a make-or-break year for both of them.

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0.0

The Children Must Learn

Jan 1, 1940

Documentary profiling an Appalachian farming family struggling to scrape out a living. Linking education and economic development, The Children Must Learn suggests that better schooling, especially in agricultural techniques, would bring improvement.

5.7

Our People Will Be Healed

Sep 7, 2017

Legendary documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin provides a glimpse of what action-driven decolonization looks like in Norway House, one of Manitoba's largest First Nation communities.

7.4

Oceans

Jan 22, 2010

An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.

0.0

Beato, el Origen del Xacobeo

Nov 9, 2023

No overview available.

6.8

Let the Child Be the Guide

Sep 27, 2017

As a young father, watching his daughter go through her life experiences, film director Alexandre Mourot discovered the Montessori approach and decided to set his camera up in a children's house (3 to 6 years of age) in the oldest Montessori school in France. Alexandre was warmly welcomed in a surprisingly calm and peaceful environment, filled with flowers, fruits and Montessori materials. He met happy children, who were free to move about, working alone or in small groups. The teacher remained very discreet. Some children were reading, others were making bread, doing division, laughing or sleeping. The children guided the film director throughout the whole school year, helping him to understand the magic of their autonomy and self-esteem - the seeds of a new society of peace and freedom, which Maria Montessori dedicated her life work to.

7.3

Restrepo

Jun 25, 2010

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

7.6

Hoop Dreams

Sep 12, 1994

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Waiting for "Superman"

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Waiting for "Superman" Trailers