Waiting For Superman

[Timothy Gangwer]

When disaster strikes in America, heroes rush in. We’ve seen it time and again: when all seems lost, real-life supermen (and women) step up to save the day. But what if, right now, there is a hidden catastrophe spreading quietly, insidiously through our nation’s cities, towns and communities — and yet we have the power to stop it? What if our children and their futures were in peril? Who will become a hero now? 

From Davis Guggenheim, the Academy Award®-winning director of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, comes another stirring, must-see clarion call of our times: WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”, a deeply personal exploration of the current state of public education in the U.S. and how it is affecting our children. Fueled by his conscience and electrified by the possibilities for change, Guggenheim sets off on a probing journey into the lives of five unforgettable kids whose dreams, hopes and untapped potential reveal all that is at stake at this critical moment. 

They include Daisy, an L.A. fifth-grader who, no matter what, never gives up on big plans for her future; Francisco, a Bronx first-grader whose mom will do anything to give him a shot at a better life; Anthony, a Washington D.C. fifth-grader in search of a different life from that of the dad he lost to drug addiction; Emily, an eighth-grader in Silicon Valley who fears being permanently stamped as unfit for college; and Bianca, a Harlem kindergartner already aiming, with her single mother’s valiant help, to make it against the odds. 

In spite of their rousing determination and grit, the shocking reality is that most of film’s touching and funny cast of kids will be barred from a chance at what was once taken for granted: a great American education. 

In addressing these questions through dynamic storytelling, Guggenheim sparks a vital national conversation and introduces us to a group of education reformers currently defying the odds. But when the credits to WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” roll, the story hasn’t ended. It has only just begun — because what Guggenheim reveals is that the superheroes we’ve been waiting for to save our schools are all around us. In fact, they might just be you and me. 

Paramount Vantage and Participant Media present in association with Walden Media an Electric Kinney Films production of a film by Davis Guggenheim, WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”. The film is written by Davis Guggenheim and Billy Kimball. The producer is Lesley Chilcott and the executive producers are Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann. 

 

- waitingforsuperman.com/action