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Welcome to Coolidge Classroom, a free field trip program for middle and high school students!
Each three-hour session starts at 10:30am and includes a film screening, lunch, facilitated discussion, and contextual resources for students and educators. Our '25-'26 program will feature guest speakers in the sciences and special appearances from filmmakers. Learn more in the FAQ section below!
Registration for the '25-'26 program is now open!
The Program
Developed in collaboration with local educators, Coolidge Classroom programs support existing curriculum in a variety of disciplines including STEM, world language, and the humanities, while simultaneously engaging media literacy skills and foundations of cinema studies.
In order to ensure youth programs are accessible for all, the Coolidge is committed to providing free transportation and meals for students.
Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for our Coolidge Classroom email list here.
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The Farewell
September 29-October 1, 2025
Directed by: Lulu Wang | 2019 | PG | 1h 40m | In English and Mandarin; Spanish subtitles available
Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi returns to Changchun to find that her beloved Nai Nai (grandma) has been given mere weeks to live, but her family has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself.
Themes: Intergenerational families, grief, immigration
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Flow
October 20-22, 2025
Directed by: Gints Zilbalodis | 2024 | PG | 1h 25m
A courageous cat teams up with a capybara and other animal friends after their home is devastated by a great flood. Celebrating the possibilities of visual storytelling without dialogue, this animated journey through realms natural and mystical affirms the spirit of community amidst a fragile environment.
Themes: Animated storytelling, ecological disaster, community & empathy (SEL)
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After Yang
November 17-19, 2025
Directed by: Kogonada | 2021| PG | 1h 36m | In English; Spanish subtitles available
In a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down. This screening will feature a presentation and Q&A with a local guest speaker from the field of artificial intelligence and engineering.
Themes: Artificial intelligence, memory & consciousness, science fiction & dystopias, family, technology, transracial adoption
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A Nice Indian Boy
December 8-10, 2025
Directed by: Roshan Sethi | 2025 | NR (raunchy language and mild cursing) | 1h 37m | In English
In this Bollywood-inspired rom-com, cultures collide when an introverted doctor brings his white boyfriend home to meet his traditional East Indian family.
Themes: LGBTQ+ representation, intercultural families, romantic comedy, national cinemas & Bollywood
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I Am Not Your Negro
January 26-28, 2026
Directed by: Raoul Peck | 2016 | PG-13 | 1h 36m | In English; Spanish subtitles available
Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished in this creative documentary using Baldwin’s original words and a flood of rich archival material to question Black representation in Hollywood and beyond.
Themes: Documentary & literature, civil rights movement, structural racism & media history
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Sleep Dealer
February 9-11, 2026
Directed by: Alex Rivera | 2008 | PG-13 | 1h 30m | In Spanish and English with English subtitles
In this dystopian vision of the US-Mexico border, young Memo Cruz "migrates" in a new way—over the net. By connecting his body to the web, Memo controls a machine that performs his labor in America, exporting his work without the body of the worker.
Themes: Immigration, economics, science fiction & dystopias, cyborgs
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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
March 16-18, 2026
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki | 1984 | PG | 1h 57m | In English or Japanese
Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. This screening will feature a presentation and Q&A with a local expert on the field of climate science.
Themes: Climate justice, forest science, sustainability & urbanization, Miyazaki as auteur
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La noire de... (Black Girl)
April 6-8, 2026
Directed by: Ousmene Sembène | 1966 | NR (suicide and sexual harassment) | 1h 5m | In French with Englsih subtitles
A young Senegalese woman moves to France to work for a wealthy white family only to find that life in their small apartment becomes a prison.
Themes: Colonialism & language, African cinema, Sembène as auteur & griot
Who can sign up for this?
Coolidge Classroom welcomes middle and high school educators of all disciplines and their students.
How many students can I bring?
Our new Center for Education and Community Engagement can accommodate up to 45 students and chaperones. Moviehouse 1 can accommodate more than 400! We look forward to facilitating dialogue among students from multiple schools, classrooms, or disciplines simultaneously, so whether your class is large or small, you’re invited!
Is this movie a good fit for my students?
We encourage teachers to preview films and refer to Common Sense Media when determining whether a film is appropriate for their students. We are also happy to consult on sensitive content and available scaffolds for discussing challenging subjects. For questions about curricular applications, email sophie@coolidge.org.
More about our curriculuum
In curating films that speak to themes in STEM, world language, social studies, and ELA, we strive to build a series that reflects the plural, intersecting identities of our students, including a variety of documentary and narrative, classic and contemporary, international and American films.
This program is designed by our Director of Education Sophie Blum (a former high school teacher) in collaboration with an advisory committee of local educators representing 6 districts, 13 schools, and 5 disciplines including core subjects, special education, and English as a Second Language.
Coolidge curriculum addresses both Massachusetts State Frameworks and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards.
View the '24-'25 Program
Persepolis
November 18-20, 2024
Directed by: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud | 2007 | PG-13 | 1h 36m | In French, Persian, and English
Marjane Satrapi's animated adaptation of her autobiographical graphic novel about coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
Themes: Adaptation, visual storytelling and memoir, transnational literature, immigration and displacement, rebellion and activism
Dìdi
December 9-11, 2024
Directed by: Sean Wang | 2024 | R (14+ Common Sense Media Rating) | 1h 31m | In English and Mandarin
An irreverent and affecting ode to adolescence and growing up online in 2008, as seen through the lens of a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy.
Themes: Coming of age, intergenerational families, Asian American experience, “screenagers” and social media
Pan's Labyrinth
January 27-29, 2025
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro | 2006 | R (15+ Common Sense Media Rating) | 1h 58m | In Spanish
Eleven-year-old Ofelia navigates an eerie fairy tale world symbolic of her life in Franco's Spain.
Themes: Magical realism, fascism, war-time childhood, del Toro as auteur, violence on screen
Flee
February 10-12, 2025
Directed by: Jonas Poher Rasmussen | 2021 | PG-13 | 1h 30m | In Danish, English, Dari, Russian, and Swedish with English subtitles
In this animated documentary, Amin Nawabi tells the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.
Themes: Immigration, Intersectionality, LGBTQ experience, documentary storytelling and memoir
Coded Bias
March 10-12, 2025
Directed by: Shalini Kantayya | 2020 | TV-MA | 1h 30m | In English
This documentary explores the fallout of an MIT Media Lab researcher’s discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately. This screening features an introduction and Q&A with a local guest speaker from the field of AI and computer engineering.
Themes: Artificial intelligence, systemic racism, computer engineering, STEM careers, algorithmic justice
Throne of Blood
April 7-9, 2025
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa | 1957 | NR | 1h 50m | In Japanese
An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in feudal Japan.
Themes: Adaptation, Shakespeare's “universality," gender norms, Japanese theatrical traditions, Akira Kurosawa as auteur
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Film offers such a powerful gateway to deep classroom conversations. In just a couple hours together, students share in a rich, engaging text that they can analyze, discuss, connect to, and write about. Partnering with the Coolidge means expanding students' film horizons and helping them turn "going to the movies" into a pathway for lifelong learning.
– Brookline High School English Teacher
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