Coolidge Education presents

Coolidge Classroom welcomes middle and high school educators of all disciplines and their students. 

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!

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.

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. 

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