“Welcome to Commie High” has been several years in the making and will have its world premiere at the Ann Arbor Film Festival at the Michigan Theater March 28th. WEMU’s Lisa Barry talks with film director and producer Donald Harrison about the message and emotions viewers will likely get from this documentary about this unique Ann Arbor high school.
Work on the new film, "Welcome to Commie High," began back in 2016, and filmmaker Donald Harrison says they're excited to show it at the upcoming Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Harrison says the film will make viewers laugh and cry and learn more about equity in education.
Ann Arbor's Community High School opened up with a humanistic approach in the early 70's and still remains quite popular in 2020. He says the school has evolved over the years, and they wanted to breathe life into the story and also show how America has changed over the course of the school's history.
Harrison says the movie features a special soundtrack, including several Ann Arbor artists who attended Community High School.
He says the process of putting the film together was "inspiring," and he got to engage with some really "expressive" former students who made the most out of their unique high school experience at Ann Arbor's Community High School.
RESOURCES:
"Welcome to Commie High" by 7 Cylinders Studio
"World Premiere of Welcome To Commie High is coming to the 58th AAFF" (includes ticket info)
Supporting "Welcome to Commie High"
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
