This award winning movie focuses on tests used in New York City schools to determine who gets into the elite high schools and how they increase the gap in educational opportunities for different races in the US. @Curtischin @testedfilm

Watch the Trailer. If you live in or near New York City you can see this film screened on Feb. 11th at 2 pm at the Chatham Square library, 33 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002. If you think you may qualify for a press screening as I did, contact Curtis Chin at ccurtis@testedfilm.com.

Film Summary

• The gap in opportunities for different races in America remains extreme. Nowhere is this more evident than our nation’s top public schools. In New York City, where blacks and Hispanics make up 70% of the city’s school-aged population, they represent less than 5% at the city’s most elite public high schools. Meanwhile, Asian Americans make up as much as 73%. This documentary follows a dozen racially and socioeconomically diverse 8th graders as they fight for a seat at one of these schools. Their only way in: to ace a single standardized test. Tested includes the voices of such education experts as Pedro Noguera and Diane Ravitch as it explores such issues as access to a high-quality public education, affirmative action, and the model-minority myth.

Award Winner & Screenings So Far

• The film premiered at the DOC NYC film festival in NYC where The Village Voice named it one of the best films in the festival. The film has since screened with Lincoln Center, the White House, the American Educational Research Association, the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, the Southern Sociological Society, SXSWEdu and more. In total, we’ve had 100 screenings in 8 countries.

Purchase the DVD

• The site says it’s accepting pre-orders but orders are now shipping click here for your copy.. Note that there is a much lower price for libraries and non-profits. They also plan on a consumer version later this year.

Curtis Chin Writer/Producer

• Curtis Chin has written for shows on ABC, the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, as well as projects for NBC and Fox. He has won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the San Diego Asian American Film Foundation, among others. His first documentary, Vincent Who?, has screened at over 400 colleges in four countries and won awards from the National Association for Multicultural Education and the Asian American Justice Center. As a community activist, he co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR, and in Newsweek and other media outlets. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University.

Share this: