蜜桃影视

This is the fourth installment in our “Film School” series, leading up to the 2018 Academy Awards. Read the previous installments.

What is the greatest education film of all time? Dead Poets Society? Waiting for 鈥淪uperman鈥�? Actually, can anything top Mean Girls?

Sunday night鈥檚 Academy Awards show may dethrone some of these classics, as a trio of education films 鈥� Lady Bird, Traffic Stop, and DeKalb Elementary 鈥� have been nominated for Oscars at this year鈥檚 90th Academy Awards. Some have even emerged as front-runners.

Here are three ways education could take center stage Sunday night:

 

1. Best Picture听

Lady Bird, a story about a teenager鈥檚 senior year at an all-girls Catholic high school, is up for the night鈥檚 biggest prize, Best Picture. But some critics are skeptical it will triumph, The Shape of Water, Get Out, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri instead.

鈥�Lady Bird probably won鈥檛 win any Oscars, and that鈥檚 a bad thing,鈥� declared a recent USA Today , citing some who think director/screenwriter Greta Gerwig was nominated only because she was snubbed by the Golden Globes鈥� all-male director nominees 鈥� which the writer argued would be an 鈥渋njustice.鈥�

Other pundits point to the film鈥檚 other nominations as likelier categories for victory: Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Best Supporting Actress (Laurie Metcalf), and Best Director and Best Screenplay (Gerwig).

• Earlier this week, we published a background feature 鈥� INSIDE LADY BIRD:听Greta Gerwig says she wanted to write a different kind of love letter to Catholic school (and听it got her to the Oscars)

Some Oscar observers say the industry dismisses coming-of-age movies that focus on girls, as opposed to boys. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still a persistent bias against the idea that serious filmmaking would center on teen girls,鈥� Alissa Wilkinson wrote in a recent on whether Lady Bird could take home the night鈥檚 top award.

Regardless of awards, argue that Lady Bird鈥檚 impact has been significant as a critically acclaimed story about women, written and directed by a woman. Gerwig鈥檚 former high school in Sacramento, California, St. Francis, her nomination with an awards show Sunday night, where students will come dressed up in their best thrift-store outfits (inspired by scenes from the movie) and watch tapes of theater performances that the teenage Gerwig made while a student there.

 

2. Best Live Action Short

DeKalb Elementary 鈥� a story about a 2013 school shooting that was prevented by an empathetic school employee 鈥� was selected by the majority of experts on as the likely winner for Best Live Action Short Film.

• We interview creator听Reed Van Dyk听鈥� DeKalb Elementary: Filmmaker behind the Oscar-nominated short talks about the Georgia school shooting that wasn鈥檛

writers also selected the short for its timeliness in light of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, where 17 people died: 鈥淭he immediacy of DeKalb Elementary should stick with voters and propel it to the top,鈥� the authors wrote.

Journalist and author Mark Harris that DeKalb鈥檚 win could end up being a 鈥渞eal moment in front of a huge audience鈥� at the Oscars.

https://twitter.com/MarkHarrisNYC/status/967573950866878464

 

3. Best Documentary Short

Traffic Stop听is听a documentary about the life of teacher Breaion King after a violent encounter with police.

The film is not currently the favored winner in the Best Documentary Short category; instead, Edith+Eddie and Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 to take home the prize. But director Kate Davis told 蜜桃影视 that the Oscar is merely the 鈥渋cing on the cake鈥� compared to the real work she hopes the film can do as an educational tool around police brutality.

• Our interview with Davis 鈥� Traffic Stop: Oscar-nominated documentary tells of Texas math teacher鈥檚 violent encounter with police 鈥� and her struggle to heal

Davis says she plans on partnering with police academy training programs and schools to share the story of how violent police encounters can have a dramatic impact, both physically and mentally.

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