Films with: Becker, Mark

Did you know Mr. Michael is gay?

Brings audiences inside the classroom as a public school teacher comes out to his 9th grade students. Global studies teacher Michael Soet, known to students as Mr. Michael, announces on camera that he's gay, then spends a full day of classes discussing LGBT issues with his students. This documentary actively confronts issues of sexual orientation, tolerance, and intercultural differences as students ask questions ranging from "who is the man and who is the woman" to who cleans when two men live together. While this film tells the story of one openly gay teacher in a single school, it can help facilitate national dialog on a key social issue that is noticeably overlooked, and rarely even acknowledged.

DVD 2528

Elevate

Filmed over four years, from the dilapidated cement courts of Senegal to upscale American prep schools, documents the extraordinary personal journeys of four particularly tall West African Muslim teenage boys with NBA dreams. Recruited for both their physical and academic skills, Assane, Dethie, Byago and Aziz accept basketball scholarships to schools in the United States, and face the daunting challenges of alienation, a foreign language, and American-style basketball.

DVD 8922

Romántico

The story of Carmelo - car wash employee by day, mariachi musician by night - and his struggle to cope with his mother's mortality, his daughters' needs, and his own dreams.

DVD 6431