Movies Similar to Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary

Fluid(2023)

A low budget, comedic documentary following a young man trying to take a deeper look into water, its purpose, and how we, as a society have chosen to use it.

Divas(2021)

School Town King(2020)

It follows two teenage rappers in Bangkok who use their musical talent to navigate their difficult circumstances.

Time for School: 2003-2016(2016)

Time for School is the stories of five kids in five countries who are struggling against the odds to get a basic education. These children live in countries where poverty, child labor, early marriage, and the chaos of war prevent legions of young people from getting an education. Time for School follows Nanavi in Benin, Jefferson in Brazil, Neeraj in India, Joab in Kenya, and Shugufa in Afghanistan during their first days of school and then for the next 12 years.

My Milkman, Joe(1958)

Educational short film featuring a milkman and his puppet

El dibujo de Frida(2023)

Frida, a deaf girl, shows us La Casa del Sordo through her eyes and hands: a space where deafness ceases to be a barrier and becomes the identity of an entire community.

Dear Students(2024)

A documentary feature film which aims to expand the usually one-sided conversation between students and teachers. During its runtime, raw experiences heard from all sides of the conversation are laid bare during its 77 minute runtime. From all of these interviewees, including a student, a school psychiatrist, and five teachers, the viewer shouldn't expect to be confronted with a narrow perspective but rather a question: "where do I stand?"

Writing Life – Annie Ernaux Through the Eyes of High School Students(2025)

A major figure in contemporary feminism and the first Frenchwoman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux is seen by many as a source of individual and collective emancipation, blending the intimate with the universal. Filmmaker Claire Simon has devoted an original portrait to her, giving students and teachers a voice.

Stepping Into the Boundary(2019)

Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain, 2011. Maider, a filmmaker, moves to the very same flat where pedadogist Elbira Zipitria Irastorza (1906-1982) clandestinely established the first ikastola, a Basque school, under the harsh regime of dictator Francisco Franco. Despite of her pioneering work, developed throughout thirty years, her story is not well known, so Maider, intrigued, begins to research…

Under the Same Sky(2017)

The Chinese government is sponsoring a national campaign on "equal" education. UNDER THE SAME SKY documents school children in the city as well as the country to compare the two educational experiences. UNDER THE SAME SKY had been nominated for best short documentary at the 2017 Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2017 St. Louis International Film Festival, Long beach indie Film Festival and Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival. It's also been shown and won awards at 15 other film festivals around the world, including the Cannes Short Film Corner and The Impact Docs Awards.

The Finland Phenomenon(2011)

Finland’s education system has consistently ranked among the best in the world for more than a decade. The puzzle is, why Finland? Documentary filmmaker, Bob Compton, along with Harvard researcher, Dr. Tony Wagner, decided to find out. The result of their research is captured in a new film, "The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World’s Most Surprising School System". In the 60-minute film, Dr. Wagner guides the viewer through an inside look at the world’s finest secondary education system. A life-long educator and author of the best-selling book "The Global Achievement Gap," Dr. Wagner is uniquely qualified to explore and explain Finland’s success. From within classrooms and through interviews with students, teachers, parents, administrators and government officials, Dr. Wagner reveals the surprising factors accounting for Finland’s rank as the #1 education system in the world.

Kites and Other Tales(1975)

Modern kite maker Tom Joe seeks to preserve the craft of kite making as well as the traditional Asian folklore behind it. Alan Takemoto illustrates Tom Joe’s tales of the Polynesian fish kite made from leaves and branches to fool fish; the Chinese general whose trapped army fashioned a fighting kite; and Shirone, the “kite crazy town” in Japan where 20-foot fighting kites duel in magnificent matches. Children will be inspired to try making these kites.

Dare to Say No!(1988)

Shows children various reasons why they need to resist peer pressure, refuse drugs, and refuse to follow the crowd just to fit in

Entre deux vagues(1985)

Mickey Mouse: Safety Belt Expert(1988)

Educational film; a musical courtroom drama encouraging students to buckle up.

All The Eyes(2024)

All The Eyes is the story of the lives of children whose geographical determinism has created obstacles for them to achieve their dreams. Children who live in one of the most deprived areas of Iran: Kotij, a city of 6,000 people in Balochistan.

Through These Eyes(2004)

A 1970s American elementary school program encouraging students to figure out for themselves the universal building blocks of human community — family, work, faith, etc. — inflamed political sensitivities so intensely it was shelved and forgotten. Archive footage of the documentary film series at the program's core, classroom exchanges, and the ensuing controversy frames larger issues of education, politics and ideology.

Piaget’s Developmental Theory: an Overview(1989)

The work of Jean Piaget has become the foundation of current developmental psychology and the basis for changes in educational practice. David Elkind, author of The Hurried Child and Miseducation, and a student of Jean Piaget, explores the roots of Piaget’s work and outlines important vocabulary and concepts that structure much of the study of child development. Using both archival film of Dr. Piaget and newly shot sequences of Dr. Elkind conducting interviews with children of varying ages, this film presents an overview of Piaget’s developmental theory, its scope and content.

Brief Tender Light(2024)

At America's elite MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students as they strive to graduate and become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.

The Ability Exchange(2016)

A documentary about an innovative Disability Studies class at NYU Tandon School of Engineering where engineering students and adults with cerebral palsy learn to communicate, connect, and cultivate their abilities by making movies.