Chalk (2006)

Directed by

Mike Akel

Genre

comedy film, mockumentary

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 25m

Rated

PG-13

Rating

5.1 of 10 from 10 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A mockumentary follows three teachers and an assistant principal through a school year. It shows the daily frustrations and small victories of educators, without turning them into heroes.

observationaldryly humorouscandidunderstatedepisodicunromanticquotidian

What happens

Chalk is a 2006 comedy mockumentary about teaching focusing on the lives of three teachers and one assistant principal. It stars Chris Mass as Mr. Stroope and Troy Schremmer as Mr. Lowrey. It is directed by Mike Akel. The movie is based on both Akel's and Mass' real life experiences in the teaching profession. Co-written by Mass and Akel, the film was developed through improvisation all the way through the process, from writing through production and post-production. The final film was edited together from more than 60 hours of footage. The film premiered in March, 2006 at the "Cinequest Film Festival", presented in April 2006 at the "Boston Independent Film Festival", and released in Los Angeles on May 11, 2007, playing at the Nuart Theatre and in more cities in subsequent weeks. The film begins by stating that 50 percent of teachers quit within their first three years on the job. The film has received a mostly positive response from critics regarding it as an antithesis to the more common inspirational teacher movies. LA Weekly in its review stated to think of it as "To Sir, With Sarcasm.". Teachers who saw the film noted how the film "nailed" the experiences of a new teacher. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down (2006)
• Golden Age (2006)
• Believe (2007)
• Brutal Massacre (2007)
• The Auteur (2008)
• Shtickmen (2003)
• The Office (2005)
• Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance (2007)