Keswick Film Club - Radical

Synopsis

When you think of movies that place an inspirational teacher in front of a class of 'no-hoper' students, you might picture Robin Williams in 'Dead Poets Society', or Sidney Poitier in 'To Sir, with Love' but the 'radical' teacher here has a lot more kudos: he is based on a genuine teacher, Sergio Juarez Correa, a teacher in the northeastern Mexican border town of Matamoros, whose story, by Joshua Davis, appeared on the cover of 'Wired' in 2013 and inspired this film. The school in question was known as 'the school of punishment'; it was impoverished, dominated by drug gangs and corrupt officials, all of which Sergio (played by Mexican star Eugenio Derbez) took on as a test to try out a new method - 'student-led learning'; "'What do you want to learn?' Sergio (as he insists the students refer to him) asks. He encourages them not to worry about grades and not to be afraid of mistakes. 'Who wants to be wrong first?'" - Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com.

The kids are assumed to have no future, so the prevailing culture is 'why teach them anything?' Sergio tells the kids they all have what is needed - potential - and sets about trying to make them think for themselves. In the movie, three kids are the centre of the action - why not come along to see what happens to them?

"Brought to life by an electrifying cast fronted by Derbez and an ensemble of young actors already at the top of their game, while 'Radical' might feel like familiar territory, it is energized with so much heart and compassion that it feels almost impossible not to fall for its myriad charms. Based on Davis's powerful source material, Zalla directs the film as if this kind of story had never been done before which grants it an indefinable yet pervasive sense of joy" - Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, AWFJ