AERA Presidential Documentary Series: Homeroom

Session Type: Documentary

Abstract

Homeroom follows a group of high school seniors in the tumultuous school year ending in Spring 2020. As Nicks has shown again and again, Oakland is a rich microcosm of American Life and Oakland High is no exception. The joys and sorrows of teenage life are on full display, as students struggle to define themselves and set a course for the future.

However, many of the students face hardships far beyond the pop ennui of so many high school films. Displaced by rapid gentrification in the Bay Area, constricted by fear of deportation, and intimidated by law enforcement, they have a firsthand education in systemic injustice. At centerstage is Denilson Garibo, one of two Student Directors on the Board of Education representing the 36,000 students in the Oakland Unified School District. Denilson’s role places him between two worlds, bringing the urgent concerns of his constituents to the ears of adults in leadership positions who are often pursuing different priorities.

In a year derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and rocked by the national trauma of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others, Homeroom celebrates the tenacity of today’s youth. A perfect capstone to a trilogy of films that have not shied away from exploring the intractable problems plaguing many of our institutions, Homeroom allows the students to point a way forward. Confronted with crisis after crisis and coming of age in a chaotic world has not instilled pessimism, but a galvanizing determination to make change.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Film Maker

• Peter Nicks, Cinematographer/Director

• Ryan Coogler, Director