SXSW Film: Frontrunners
By jmj1. Wednesday, 12. March 2008, 17:53:22
After three days of panels, Jim suggested we take a break yesterday and go see one of the movies in the SXSW Film Festival. We ended up picking Frontrunners, a documentary about the Student Council elections at New York City's Stuyvesant High School, primarily because it was playing in the convention center during the afternoon. The choice turned out to be a good one; Frontrunners is a terrifically engaging film. It is funny and smart, and it features some of the most interesting high school students I've ever seen on the screen.The film, which was directed by Caroline Suh and produced by Erika Frankel, follows three of Stuyvesant High's presidential candidates through the school's election process. Michael Zaytsev is laid-back and cool; his running mate Marta continually goads him to pay more attention to their campaign, but he refuses because he is confident they will win. Hannah Freiman, on the other hand, is an extrovert. She is captain of the cheerleading team and president of the student drama group (she had a role in Palindromes and a guest spot on Law & Order).
