The third and most prescient of director Peter Nicks’ trilogy of vérité portraits of life in Oakland, California, Homeroom follows a cohort of high school seniors in the challenging year ending Spring 2020 as they face up to academic life that is both fractured and fragmented by Covid, and an underlying worry that things might never quite be the same again.
Following on from The Waiting Room (2012) and The Force (2017), the film continues the director’s study of diverse and struggling bodies and the complex relationship between communities and institutions. The fact that Covid hangs over Oakland High School adds a plaintive but haunting quality but doesn’t detract from the film’s overall examination of the ups and downs of school life.
That said, what should have been an analysis of a normal school year has become a very different type of film, with the students having to face a very new and different set of challenges on top of the usual ones faced by youngsters.
Nicks eschews voice-over or talking heads, and instead lets his camera weave through the school looking into all aspects of the institution. Front and centre of the storyline are Mike and Denilson, two representatives on the board of education for the Oakland Unified School District who advocate moving funds away from the school district’s dedicated police force, all on the back of budget shortages and teacher strikes.
Not that the film aims to present the school as a place in crisis, more that it hints at the issues that are looming around the corner, and it is at its best as it focusses on a generation well-versed in the notion of ‘documentary,’ given that the kids record all aspects of their lives via mobile phone. Their attitudes to life and school and politics are what gives the film a sense of warmth and energy, and it is fascinating to see them engage with the tumultuous events of 2020 – from George Floyd through to Covid – giving the film a real edge and sense of drama.
The arrival of Covid naturally has a massive impact on tutoring and education in general, as well as skewing the planned structure of the film. But while it could be viewed as another of the many Covid films out there, in fact Homeroom has a lot more depth and insight as it focusses on the general school experience especially as part Nicks’ trilogy portraits of life in Oakland. It is a film that is, in equal part, impressive, immersive and insightful, and made with real compassion and respect.
Dir Peter Nicks
Production Hulu, Concordia Studio, Open’hood, XTR, Proximity Media
Producers Peter Nicks, Sean Havey
Cinematography Sean Havey
Editor Kristina Motwani, Rebecca Adomo
Music Mike Tuccillo
