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Imagine a School...Summerhill
has its debut screening at the
Asheville Film Festival
Nov. 6 - 9, 2008 |
 Los Angeles, Oct. 23, 2008: Imagine a School... Summerhill by director William Tyler Smith will have its debut festival screening at this year's Asheville Film Festival in Asheville, N.C.
[See screening information below.]
The feature documentary, produced by 418 films ltd. and represented by Reflection Media, Inc., was filmed in England over a period of seven years:
"In 1997, Tony Blair's New Labor government took steps to live up to its promise to improve standards in education. Ironically, this would threaten the existence of an unusual little school in Suffolk called Summerhill..."
So begins this extraordinary documentary about an exemplary school in England, in which the students, the staff and a few formidable barristers take on OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education) and Tony Blair's Labor Government to fight for its existence and the lifeblood of alternative education throughout the world.
Imagine a School...Summerhill follows four students from the ages of eleven to sixteen as they grow up and make important decisions about life and their education at the same time that they become involved in the legal and political fight to save their school. The film follows the same children who sneak out of their dorms at night and dance to The Spice Girls at the end of term party as they go on to help run the democratic processes of their school, give a press conference at the Houses of Parliament and, finally and triumphantly, turn the high court into an unprecedented and historical Summerhill general meeting to decide whether or not to accept the terms of the British government.
Imagine a School Summerhill was an official selection of the 2008 Cinequest Film Festival's online Vuze Audience Favorites and has spawned a narrative feature, which is now in development. View film clips here.
SCREENING INFO: DATE: Friday, Nov. 7, 2007
TIME: 3:00 p.m. program
PLACE:
35 Below, Asheville Community Theatre
35 E. Walnut Street
Asheville, NC 28806 (828) 254-1320
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"Summerhill" Distribution: DER |
 RMI's quest to find innovative ways to bring films to their audience results in an exciting announcement: The educational and consumer DVD rights for Imagine a School...Summerhill have been sold to the prestigious distributor DER. Since 1968, DER has distributed documentary films to the U.S. and international markets.Their films have been broadcast internationally on PBS, HBO and The Discovery Channel. Early innovators in developing media based curriculum for classroom use, DER supports filmmakers with a long-term commitment to their subjects, ensuring integrity and a strong collaboration. Director William Tyler Smith is very pleased to be working with DER because of their extensive partnerships with public schools. Says RMI president Jill Gambaro, "It seemed a natural fit to take a film about a school to the educational market. What makes this documentary such an important film is how it can energize children to participate in their own education. What better way to do that than by showing them Imagine a School... Summerhill." |
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Review: FilmNewsAndViews.com |
 Film critic Erik Sean McGiven gves a double thumbs up to Imagine a School...Summerhill at the online film magazine Film News and Views: "The filmmaker's valiant efforts bring to light this innovative teaching philosophy and the perils should it be snuffed out......Imagine a School...Summerhill is a film that challenges one's thinking on education and government's role in regulating it. This film illuminates alternatives as well as hope for the future." Read the full review here. |
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CONTACT: Judy Sandra, JS Media Publicity
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THE FILMMAKERS |
Director / Executive Producer
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William Tyler Smith is an award-winning writer/director, producer and photographer, who has worked on both documentary and narrative features in film and TV. Smith directed Kiss Me Again, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. His short films have been widely screened in the U.S. and abroad, including New York. Interior-Night, which led to Smith's first feature documentary The Third Mind, about the artistic fusion between Doors keyboardist, Ray Manzarek and beat poet, Michael McClure.
The Third Mind had its successful international premiere at the Venice Film Festival, its U.S. premiere at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and was broadcast on the Sundance Channel. Soon after it was distributed by Mystic Fire Video (Winstar). Los Angeles Times film critic Kevin Thomas called The Third Mind, "an incisive and engaging exploration...has lots of energy and style, and is an altogether stimulating work."
Smith has taught filmmaking at UCLA and currently teaches directing at the New York Film Academy. He is also in development on the narrative feature version of Imagine a School... Summerhill, which he wrote with fellow filmmaker Julian Hoxter, to be produced by M.E.G.A. Films.
Director of Photography /
Executive Producer
Julian D. Hoxter
Director of photography Julian Hoxter is currently Assistant Professor of Screenwriting in the Cinema Department of San Francisco State University. Previously he was Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Media with Cultural Studies in the Media Arts Faculty of Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK. Hoxter has a BA in Drama and English and an MA in Film Studies from the University of East Anglia, Norwich. He also studied film production at UCLA for three years where he met Smith.
He has an extensive background in documentary filmmaking and has been a DP on many films and videos including William Tyler Smith's New York. Interior-Night. With Smith he has co-written a dramatic narrative feature based on Imagine a School... Summerhill. With director William Tyler Smith, Hoxter is a partner in the production company 418 Films, Ltd. |
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MySpace Page: Imagine a School...Summerhill |
The official Imagine a School... Summerhill MySpace.com page includes
the trailer and detailed information about the film, William Tyler Smith and the Summerhill School. You can also watch clips from the film of interviews with famous alumni actors Jake Webber (Medium) and Rebecca DeMornay (ER, Risky Business). myspace.com/imagineaschoolsummerhill | |
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