About a Teacher (2020)

About a Teacher is an intimate and inspiring drama that candidly takes us through the personal journey of a new inner-city public high school film teacher who enters the profession oblivious to the actual demands of teaching in the inner-city, and unaware of his own shortcomings and biases. Within his first month of teaching, he recognizes that knowing his subject matter is one of the smaller components of the job. Overwhelmed, he plans to quit at the end of the first school year. But as he begins to get to know his students and invests in their stories and futures, he discovers that he must set aside preconceived notions of who his students are and what they "need," and instead respond to the unique individuals in front of him. Inspired by the filmmaker's real-life experiences as an inner-city film teacher, and featuring many of his former students in the cast and crew, About a Teacher paints a realistic portrait of the teaching profession, shedding light on the challenges and pitfalls that lead nearly half of teachers to leave the profession within the first five years (with inner-city public schools having nearly twice the attrition of more affluent schools), while simultaneously celebrating the deep rewards that this meaningful and noble profession can provide.