Summer is about to finally, blessedly be in full swing. And to honor the occasion, Hulu is showing up big with its list of new releases for June 2022.
Hulu is bringing two major TV titles to its stream this month. The first is The Orville: New Horizons on June 2. Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi/comedy started as a simple Star Trek parody on Fox before blossoming into its own entirely sincere space adventuring beast. Now “New Horizons” promises to be a fresh start for the series on Hulu. Next up is Only Murders in the Building season 2 on June 28. Season 1 of this Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez-starring series was a big hit. Let’s see if our favorite podcasters can pull it off once again.
Read more TV The Orville: Update on “More Ambitious” Season 3 Progress By Kirsten Howard
Aside from the big ticket Hulu originals, there are...
Hulu is bringing two major TV titles to its stream this month. The first is The Orville: New Horizons on June 2. Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi/comedy started as a simple Star Trek parody on Fox before blossoming into its own entirely sincere space adventuring beast. Now “New Horizons” promises to be a fresh start for the series on Hulu. Next up is Only Murders in the Building season 2 on June 28. Season 1 of this Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez-starring series was a big hit. Let’s see if our favorite podcasters can pull it off once again.
Read more TV The Orville: Update on “More Ambitious” Season 3 Progress By Kirsten Howard
Aside from the big ticket Hulu originals, there are...
- 6/1/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Emmy Award-winning PBS series “Independent Lens” has announced its spring slate of documentary films, including Sundance favorite “Try Harder!,” from director Debbie Lum. The spring lineup kicks off on April 25 at 10 p.m., with additional titles available on PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
“This spring we’re focusing on stories that shine light on a spectrum of youth perspectives, from ambitious high school students in San Francisco striving to navigate the college admissions system that feels stacked against them to Indigenous students in Utah’s Navajo Nation balancing universal teenage trials with issues in their community,” said Lois Vossen, executive producer of “Independent Lens.” “We hope viewers are inspired to think about new systems and practices in education, criminal justice reform, and representation that are needed within their own communities.”
In addition to “Try Harder!,” which offers an up-close look at the competitive college admissions process for a...
“This spring we’re focusing on stories that shine light on a spectrum of youth perspectives, from ambitious high school students in San Francisco striving to navigate the college admissions system that feels stacked against them to Indigenous students in Utah’s Navajo Nation balancing universal teenage trials with issues in their community,” said Lois Vossen, executive producer of “Independent Lens.” “We hope viewers are inspired to think about new systems and practices in education, criminal justice reform, and representation that are needed within their own communities.”
In addition to “Try Harder!,” which offers an up-close look at the competitive college admissions process for a...
- 4/6/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
Debbie Lum’s heartfelt documentary “Try Harder!” follows the stories of four students at the prestigious Lowell High School, each of whom is extraordinarily talented — but faces immense pressure to enroll in a top-tier university. As these mostly Asian-American students struggle against corrosive stereotypes, Lum observes their resilience: academic, generational, but mental as well.
We first sat down with Lum over Zoom to discuss her entry in the Sundance US Documentary Competition, and released this interview in time for its opening act at CAAMFest 2021 in mid-May. Lum is an open book; she tells us she has three kids, the eldest still far from high school. We hear the lowdown of what it takes to make a film about Asian-American students as an Asian-American mother, and discuss the mental health stakes of today’s ultra-competitive high schools.
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
What was the inspiration...
We first sat down with Lum over Zoom to discuss her entry in the Sundance US Documentary Competition, and released this interview in time for its opening act at CAAMFest 2021 in mid-May. Lum is an open book; she tells us she has three kids, the eldest still far from high school. We hear the lowdown of what it takes to make a film about Asian-American students as an Asian-American mother, and discuss the mental health stakes of today’s ultra-competitive high schools.
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
What was the inspiration...
- 3/12/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Picture the most popular person in your high school. The image your conscious conjures may look like the star player of the local sports team, or maybe they look like the class clown, the fashionista, the model, or the bad boy. Walk into Lowell, a Californian public high school with a majority Asian-American student body, and the most popular person at school is the person with the highest-grade point average. It’s the prodigy violin player. Or the president of the debate society. At Lowell, there’s nothing more valuable among students than high achieving. And everyone wants a piece of the “pi”.
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
This is the world we’re introduced to in the first few minutes of Debbie Lum’s sharp, moving, anxiety-inducing documentary “Try Harder!”, a detour through the lives of a handful of seniors at the Lowell, the...
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
This is the world we’re introduced to in the first few minutes of Debbie Lum’s sharp, moving, anxiety-inducing documentary “Try Harder!”, a detour through the lives of a handful of seniors at the Lowell, the...
- 3/11/2022
- by Luke Georgiades
- AsianMoviePulse
The 37th Annual Independent Spirit Awards took place on Sunday, returning to an in-person format following last year’s virtual ceremony. Many of the biggest names in the independent film community made the trek out to the beach in Santa Monica with the hopes of taking home the most coveted prizes in indie film. While the Spirit Awards typically take place the week before the Oscars, this year’s unique Covid-influenced awards season calendar meant that they were held nearly a month in advance. Hollywood couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally served as emcees of the proceedings.
This year’s class of nominees draws from films largely shut out from the Oscars, with indie hits like Oscar nominee “The Lost Daughter,” “C’mon C’mon,” and “Zola” racking up the most nominations. “The Lost Daughter” cleaned up, with three wins for Netflix including Best Feature and Best Director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Oscar no-show...
This year’s class of nominees draws from films largely shut out from the Oscars, with indie hits like Oscar nominee “The Lost Daughter,” “C’mon C’mon,” and “Zola” racking up the most nominations. “The Lost Daughter” cleaned up, with three wins for Netflix including Best Feature and Best Director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Oscar no-show...
- 3/7/2022
- by Christian Zilko and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Oscar-nominated “Flee” took home the top prize at the 15th annual Cinema Eye Honors on Tuesday evening at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
Going into the evening, Neon and Participant Media’s “Flee” led the field with a total of seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye also received the organization’s legacy award during the ceremony. The director was honored for her landmark 1996 independent feature “The Watermelon Woman.” After accepting the legacy award on stage, Dunye presented the category of audience choice prize.
See the full list of film winners and nominees below.
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi” (Directed and produced by Jessica Beshir)
“Flee” (Winner)
“The Rescue”
“Summer of Soul”
“The Velvet Underground”
Outstanding Direction
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession” (Winner)
“Summer of Soul”
Outstanding...
Going into the evening, Neon and Participant Media’s “Flee” led the field with a total of seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye also received the organization’s legacy award during the ceremony. The director was honored for her landmark 1996 independent feature “The Watermelon Woman.” After accepting the legacy award on stage, Dunye presented the category of audience choice prize.
See the full list of film winners and nominees below.
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi” (Directed and produced by Jessica Beshir)
“Flee” (Winner)
“The Rescue”
“Summer of Soul”
“The Velvet Underground”
Outstanding Direction
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession” (Winner)
“Summer of Soul”
Outstanding...
- 3/2/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Film Independent has set Alex Camilleri (Luzzu), Lizzie Shapiro (Shiva Baby) and Jessica Beshir (Faya Dayi) as the winners of its Emerging Filmmaker Awards, with each now earning an unrestricted $25,000 Spirit Awards cash grant.
Camilleri received the Someone to Watch Award, spotlighting talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition, with finalists for the prize including Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society).
Shapiro nabbed the Producers Award, honoring emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. The finalists for this second award were Brad Becker-Parton and Pin-Chun Liu.
Thursday’s final grant recipient, Beshir, received the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, besting finalists including Angelo Madsen Minax (North By Current) and Debbie Lum (Try Harder!).
“We are...
Camilleri received the Someone to Watch Award, spotlighting talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition, with finalists for the prize including Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society).
Shapiro nabbed the Producers Award, honoring emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. The finalists for this second award were Brad Becker-Parton and Pin-Chun Liu.
Thursday’s final grant recipient, Beshir, received the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, besting finalists including Angelo Madsen Minax (North By Current) and Debbie Lum (Try Harder!).
“We are...
- 2/10/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
College apps: they’re the most stressful part of high school. For me, it was A) college apps, B) math, and C) talking to girls. “Try Harder!,” the Sundance award-winning documentary about a high school in San Francisco, is one of the most damning and entertaining documents of that stress. It is the most vital high school movie since “American Teen,” masterfully made and one heck of an emotional rollercoaster.
Continue reading ‘Try Harder!’ Review: A Damning & Entertaining Portrait Of High School Stress at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Try Harder!’ Review: A Damning & Entertaining Portrait Of High School Stress at The Playlist.
- 12/25/2021
- by Asher Luberto
- The Playlist
Debbie Lum’s Try Harder! is a supremely moving documentary about high schoolers in the throes of their college application process. Lum’s focus is on upperclassmen at Lowell, the top public high school in San Francisco—known for its universally talented and overwhelmingly Asian-American student body … as well as its notorious pressure-cooker environment.
The beauty of Lum’s film is her ability to gain her subjects’ trust: these kids bare fears, hopes, and dreams—and, in the process, they confront race, mental health, class and financial status. Watching this film is cathartic. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…
Continue reading.
The beauty of Lum’s film is her ability to gain her subjects’ trust: these kids bare fears, hopes, and dreams—and, in the process, they confront race, mental health, class and financial status. Watching this film is cathartic. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…
Continue reading.
- 12/1/2021
- by Dylan Kai Dempsey
- IONCINEMA.com
A Dream Deferred: Debbie Lum’s Masterclass in Self-Esteem
Try Harder! is a supremely moving documentary about high schoolers in the throes of their college application process. Docu-helmer Debbie Lum’s focus is on upperclassmen at Lowell, the top public high school in San Francisco—known for its universally talented and overwhelmingly Asian-American student body, plus its notorious pressure-cooker environment. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…...
Try Harder! is a supremely moving documentary about high schoolers in the throes of their college application process. Docu-helmer Debbie Lum’s focus is on upperclassmen at Lowell, the top public high school in San Francisco—known for its universally talented and overwhelmingly Asian-American student body, plus its notorious pressure-cooker environment. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…...
- 12/1/2021
- by Dylan Kai Dempsey
- IONCINEMA.com
"It's hard to have a strong sense of self-esteem... because you're always comparing yourself to other people." Greenwich Entertainment has unveiled an official trailer for an indie documentary film titled Try Harder!, the second feature from filmmaker Debbie Lum. This originally premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and also stopped by other fests including Full Frame, AFI Docs, and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. A profile of education pressure: "At Lowell High School, the top public high school in San Francisco, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. At Lowell—where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and most of the student body is Asian-American—things that usually make a person stand out can feel commonplace.
- 11/17/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The Cinema Eye Honors has announced the nominations for its 15th annual awards. “Flee” leads the field with seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the animated documentary “Flee” landed nominations in outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, production, original score, graphic design and animation, audience choice prize and this year’s new category for outstanding achievement in sound design. The film follows the story of Awin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee who is suddenly forced to face the life-altering effects of a secret that he has kept for 20 years.
“Summer of Soul” is nominated for outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, editing, sound design, audience choice prize and debut. The documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the first directorial effort by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Other films with multiple nominations include “Ascension,” “Faya Divi” and “The Rescue” with five nominations,...
Written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the animated documentary “Flee” landed nominations in outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, production, original score, graphic design and animation, audience choice prize and this year’s new category for outstanding achievement in sound design. The film follows the story of Awin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee who is suddenly forced to face the life-altering effects of a secret that he has kept for 20 years.
“Summer of Soul” is nominated for outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, editing, sound design, audience choice prize and debut. The documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the first directorial effort by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Other films with multiple nominations include “Ascension,” “Faya Divi” and “The Rescue” with five nominations,...
- 11/10/2021
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cinema Eye Honors, recognizing outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking, today announced the full slate of nominees for its 15th Annual Awards Ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, January 13, 2022, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. Leading the pack of nominees are two Sundance premieres: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated “Flee” and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul,” which was nominated for six awards.
A trio of other lauded docs are nominated for five awards apiece, including Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi,” and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue.” Both Kingdon and Beshir are first-time feature filmmakers, while Vasarhelyi and Chin are long-time Cinema Eye faves, and Chin currently ranks as the most-winning Cinema Eye honoree in the event’s history, with five wins.
Historically, films nominated for Cinema Eye will often go on to other nominations and critics prizes.
A trio of other lauded docs are nominated for five awards apiece, including Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi,” and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue.” Both Kingdon and Beshir are first-time feature filmmakers, while Vasarhelyi and Chin are long-time Cinema Eye faves, and Chin currently ranks as the most-winning Cinema Eye honoree in the event’s history, with five wins.
Historically, films nominated for Cinema Eye will often go on to other nominations and critics prizes.
- 11/10/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Ilinca Calugareanu’s documentary A Cops and Robbers Story, with plans for a day-and-date release January 14.
The film’s subject is Corey Pegues, who in the 1990s found himself embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York’s City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death incident forces Pegues away from the streets, he unexpectedly emerges as a rising star in the NYPD. But when his former life is revealed, Pegues’s police career is threatened, raising the perennial question of who deserves – and who doesn’t deserve – a second chance in life.
The feature which made its world premiere at Doc NYC 2020 was produced by Mara Adina, Calugareanu’s collaborator on the 2015 doc Chuck Norris vs. Communism. Brenda Robinson exec produced with Julie Parker Benello, Erika Olde, Nion McEvoy, Sam Roseme, Tanja Tawadjoh, John Battsek,...
The film’s subject is Corey Pegues, who in the 1990s found himself embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York’s City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death incident forces Pegues away from the streets, he unexpectedly emerges as a rising star in the NYPD. But when his former life is revealed, Pegues’s police career is threatened, raising the perennial question of who deserves – and who doesn’t deserve – a second chance in life.
The feature which made its world premiere at Doc NYC 2020 was produced by Mara Adina, Calugareanu’s collaborator on the 2015 doc Chuck Norris vs. Communism. Brenda Robinson exec produced with Julie Parker Benello, Erika Olde, Nion McEvoy, Sam Roseme, Tanja Tawadjoh, John Battsek,...
- 11/4/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Viet Film Fest 2021, presented by the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (Vaala), has announced the winners of their Trống Đồng Award for Best Short, Best Actress, Best Actor and Trống Đồng Award for Best Feature. The festival also announced the recipient of the Spotlight Award, reserved for films that highlight an important issue or an emerging filmmaker. All winners were announced at the festival’s first virtual Award Ceremony on Thursday evening, October 28th at 6pm Pst.
“We congratulate this year’s winning films and celebrate the collective talent of Viet Film Fest 2021” said Viet Film Fest 2021 Digital Director, Tony Nguyen. “With our awards, we honor several filmmakers yet we know and must acknowledge that Viet Film Fest has just been made stronger by everyone who has taken part in this year’s virtual celebration of Vietnamese voices and stories in cinema.”
This year’s award winners were selected by the Grand Jury,...
“We congratulate this year’s winning films and celebrate the collective talent of Viet Film Fest 2021” said Viet Film Fest 2021 Digital Director, Tony Nguyen. “With our awards, we honor several filmmakers yet we know and must acknowledge that Viet Film Fest has just been made stronger by everyone who has taken part in this year’s virtual celebration of Vietnamese voices and stories in cinema.”
This year’s award winners were selected by the Grand Jury,...
- 10/30/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Lowell High School, whose student population is predominantly Asian American, is different from most US high schools portrayed on film. Director Debbie Lum came to the nationally ranked school to portray Lowell’s students, particularly so called “tiger cubs” in the heat of the college admissions process for her Sundance 2021 doc Try Harder!. Of course, not all of the Asian American students shown in the film have stereotypical “tiger moms,” and it’s refreshing to see an array of Asian American parents and students shown in communities where they feel comfortable, rather than shrinking in the minority. But the pressure on […]
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/5/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Lowell High School, whose student population is predominantly Asian American, is different from most US high schools portrayed on film. Director Debbie Lum came to the nationally ranked school to portray Lowell’s students, particularly so called “tiger cubs” in the heat of the college admissions process for her Sundance 2021 doc Try Harder!. Of course, not all of the Asian American students shown in the film have stereotypical “tiger moms,” and it’s refreshing to see an array of Asian American parents and students shown in communities where they feel comfortable, rather than shrinking in the minority. But the pressure on […]
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/5/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
On its website, Xtr describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in Xtr; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
On its website, Xtr describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in Xtr; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Lowell High School sits in the southwest corner of San Francisco, below Golden Gate Park and near Lake Merced. In a city filled with money, technology, entrepreneurs, and Patagonia vests, the #1 ranked public high school––with a predominantly Asian student population––exists under mountains of pressure. When these students become seniors, they apply to Ivy League schools, and high-achieving universities like Stanford, Cal, UCLA, and private institutions with low acceptance rates. Debbie Lim’s Try Harder! focuses on this pressure through the lens of a select few of Lowell High’s seniors.
The documentary opts for a traditional style of interviews, with talking heads and lower thirds taking up time and space. Lim speaks with several students, a few parents, and a couple teachers, allowing Ian, a less-intense senior, to become the pseudo narrator. He takes us through the expectations of a Lowell student, and the fact that this school...
The documentary opts for a traditional style of interviews, with talking heads and lower thirds taking up time and space. Lim speaks with several students, a few parents, and a couple teachers, allowing Ian, a less-intense senior, to become the pseudo narrator. He takes us through the expectations of a Lowell student, and the fact that this school...
- 2/1/2021
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Lowell High School in San Francisco is the top public school in the city. Every student is practically a genius and will do everything they can in order to be accepted to schools like Stanford, Harvard, Brown, MIT, UCLA, Uc Berkeley, and more. While it might seem like just a first world problem for these […]
The post ‘Try Harder!’ Review: The Odds Are Stacked Against Gifted Teens as They Apply for College [Sundance 2021] appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Try Harder!’ Review: The Odds Are Stacked Against Gifted Teens as They Apply for College [Sundance 2021] appeared first on /Film.
- 1/30/2021
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
‘Try Harder!’ Review: Endearing, Alarming Doc on Senior-Year College-Application Hope and Heartbreak
“You get used to feeling mediocre,” says one of the merely very bright students in a school full of what he considers “geniuses.” “Try Harder,” Debbie Lum’s simultaneously charming and chastening documentary on the senior class in Lowell High — the majority Asian-American, top-ranked school in San Francisco — takes its cue from its lovable, dorky, high-achieving subjects and mostly remains in a cheerful register, heroizing a group rarely celebrated in high school movies: the good kids.
But underneath the goofiness and gallows humor, there is a darker point being made about the impossible cycle of heightened expectations, cultural stereotyping and ever-shrinking admissions quotas for top-flight colleges. The racial profile of the high-performance Lowell is not a coincidence, but nor is it an uncomplicated advantage for any attendee, Asian or otherwise.
Lum gets pithy observations from students, teachers and administrators, but mainly follows five teenagers embarking on their preternaturally fraught college application process.
But underneath the goofiness and gallows humor, there is a darker point being made about the impossible cycle of heightened expectations, cultural stereotyping and ever-shrinking admissions quotas for top-flight colleges. The racial profile of the high-performance Lowell is not a coincidence, but nor is it an uncomplicated advantage for any attendee, Asian or otherwise.
Lum gets pithy observations from students, teachers and administrators, but mainly follows five teenagers embarking on their preternaturally fraught college application process.
- 1/30/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
ACTs, SATs, early admission deadlines: the lead-up to high school graduation is a rat race with an endlessly competitive edge, and it gets an affectionate treatment in Debbie Lum’s documentary “Try Harder!” Centering on San Francisco’s Lowell Public High School, one of the best in the nation, this breezy portrait has the crowd-pleasing affability of a movie like 2002’s “Spellbound,” while not shying away from some of the more maddening aspects of the journey to college. It’s brimming with the outsize personalities of the high school students, and offers a — instead, here, they’re just big-hearted nerds.
The largely Asian American student body of Lowell High School also means that the kids are woke without it being obnoxious, and don’t view race as a barrier to success. “Try Harder!” charts the course of a senior year in high school, as a handful of overachieving students endure...
The largely Asian American student body of Lowell High School also means that the kids are woke without it being obnoxious, and don’t view race as a barrier to success. “Try Harder!” charts the course of a senior year in high school, as a handful of overachieving students endure...
- 1/30/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Asian-American cinematic milestones tend to challenge the model-minority myth. The over-achievers in Better Luck Tomorrow turn to crime, Harold and Kumar seek stoner munchies and the gay young protagonist at the center of Spa Night finds both academic accomplishment and the American Dream hopelessly out of reach. There’s a defensiveness inherent to those films, which seem to assert, “We’re not all dutiful, high-achieving rule-followers.” And to be fair, doing hours of math problems or complying with parental whims isn’t exactly movie material.
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
- 1/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Asian-American cinematic milestones tend to challenge the model-minority myth. The over-achievers in Better Luck Tomorrow turn to crime, Harold and Kumar seek stoner munchies and the gay young protagonist at the center of Spa Night finds both academic accomplishment and the American Dream hopelessly out of reach. There’s a defensiveness inherent to those films, which seem to assert, “We’re not all dutiful, high-achieving rule-followers.” And to be fair, doing hours of math problems or complying with parental whims isn’t exactly movie material.
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
- 1/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Against the backdrop of a pandemic, maybe diversity at Sundance shouldn’t be at the fore. Then again, it’s well documented that Covid-19 has predominantly affected Black and brown people across the country, and it’s been particularly hard on filmmakers from marginalized communities, especially those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds.
At Sundance 2021, the organization continues to support its mission to be consistently inclusive, especially in its competitive sections. In this year’s slate of 72 feature-length films, 27 are directed by a filmmaker of color and/or tell stories about people of color — about 38 percent. It almost reflects the country’s general population, which, according to the United States Census Bureau, is comprised roughly of 42 percent people of color.
Among the 40 films in the four main competition categories, 14 titles, or 35 percent, were directed by people of color. That compares to 44 percent last year, which was an all-time high for the festival.
At Sundance 2021, the organization continues to support its mission to be consistently inclusive, especially in its competitive sections. In this year’s slate of 72 feature-length films, 27 are directed by a filmmaker of color and/or tell stories about people of color — about 38 percent. It almost reflects the country’s general population, which, according to the United States Census Bureau, is comprised roughly of 42 percent people of color.
Among the 40 films in the four main competition categories, 14 titles, or 35 percent, were directed by people of color. That compares to 44 percent last year, which was an all-time high for the festival.
- 1/28/2021
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
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