WEST PLAINS, Mo. – All are invited to a free showing of the documentary film “First Generation” by filmmaker Adam Fenderson at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in Melton Hall Room 112 on the campus of Missouri State University-West Plains.
The film is being shown by officials with the office of student life and development in conjunction with its showing at the same time on the Missouri State University-Springfield campus as part of the Department of Media, Journalism and Film’s Film Series.
Following the showing, those attending the local presentation will, via interactive television (ITV), join a panel discussion featuring Fenderson, Missouri State University System President Clif Smart, a first generation student and a Springfield high school counselor, who will discuss the special hurdles that confront first generation college students and explore ways in which our community can work together to help Missouri’s first gen students experience greater success in college, organizers said.
Narrated by Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, “First Generation” tells the story of four high school students – an inner city athlete, a small town waitress, a Samoan warrior dancer and the daughter of a migrant field worker – who set out to break the cycle of poverty and bring hope to their families and communities by pursuing a college education, organizers said.
Shot over the course of three years and featuring some of our nation’s top educational experts, this 95-minute documentary explores the problem of college access faced by first generation and low-income students. It also reveals how their success, or failure, has major implications for the future of America, organizers said.
“There are parts of ‘First Generation’ that will make you very, very angry,” said Beth Hawkins, author of the Learning Curve blog for the MinnPost website, in her review of the film. “In scene after scene, adults systematically undermine the ambitions of this documentary’s four bright protagonists, who are the first members of their families ever to try to get into – and pay for – college.”
“‘First Generation,’ through its poignant story telling, conveys a core truth about our K-12 education system and society,” said Nicole Tortoriello of The Education Trust. “Low-income students, like their more affluent peers, want to go to college, but they need more help to make that dream a reality. But, many of our high schools and communities are failing to provide those supports in any meaningful way.”
Fenderson wrote, directed and produced the documentary with his wife, Jaye. Fenderson has worked as a TV series editor since 2007. This is his first feature-length documentary, organizers said.
For more information about the local presentation of “First Generation,” call the Missouri State-West Plains student life and development office at 417-255-7233. For more information about the film, visit www.firstgenerationfilm.com.