TO HAVE INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE AT THE
2020 HOT DOCS CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL’S ONLINE FESTIVAL IN
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM COMPETITION SECTION
SCREENING FROM MAY 28 THROUGH JUNE 7
What does it mean to be safe in school in the United States? Safe from what, and from whom? Bulletproof poses and complicates these questions through a provocative exploration of fear and American violence.
FILM WAS AN OFFICIAL SELECTION OF THE 2020 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL IN THE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Synopsis
Bulletproof explores the complexities of violence in schools by looking at the ways we try to prevent it. The film travels across the United States, observing the longstanding rituals that take place in and around schools: homecoming parades, basketball practice, morning announcements, and math class. Unfolding alongside these scenes are a collection of newer traditions: lockdown drills, teacher firearms training, metal detector screenings, and school safety trade shows. Bulletproof weaves together these moments in a cinematic meditation on fear, violence, and the meaning of safety, bringing viewers into intimate proximity with the people self-tasked with protecting the nation’s children while generating revenue along the way, as well as with those most deeply impacted by these heightened security measures: students and teachers.
About the Director – Todd Chandler
Todd Chandler is a filmmaker, artist, and educator. His work has been featured at True/False, SXSW, Rooftop Films, the Hammer Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Mass MoCA. His projects have been supported by Creative Capital, Field of Vision, Sundance Institute, International Documentary Association, Doc Society, and ITVS, among others. His first feature film, Flood Tide, premiered at the Torino Film Festival in 2013, and his short film A Debtors’ Prison premiered at Camden International Film Festival in 2017. He was one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2019, a fellow at the Sundance Non-Fiction Director’s Residency in 2019, and a 2017 Points North Fellow. In addition to his directorial work, he is an accomplished editor, and recently he edited the Academy Award nominated short film In the Absence, by director Seung-jun Yi. He has taught in high schools and universities for over fifteen years, and has partnered with community-based organizations and human rights groups to create videos about pressing contemporary issues. He currently teaches in the Film Department at Brooklyn College.
Official Website
