Associated Leaders of Urban Debate - Debate Documentaries

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DEBATE DOCUMENTARIES

The surprising intensity of debate competition coupled with the unique nature of these intellectual athletes produce a compelling story that makes natural allies of the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate and the documentary filmmakers in the effort to produce urban education reform. While only a handful of projects have actually been produced, they represent an important feature of building a debate community.

A collaboration with ALOUD can be a win-win for filmmakers. Parents, teachers and other stakeholders need more exposure to the transformative power of debate and a picture is worth a thousand words. That is ALOUD's mission. Debate documentaries as well as feature films have consistently attracted both media attention and film festival award nominations that can heighten the visibility of the savvy filmmaker. If you are interested in producing a documentary on debate, please send a CV with your filmmaking history, the ara where you would like to shoot and a story concept to aloudhq@gmail.com or contact one of ALOUD's local partners by visiting our Debate in Your Community page. If you are looking for a subject for your next documentary, ALOUD can suggest compelling storylines and characters of interest. Here are some of the past and future projects that have captured the imagination of the general public produced by some very talented documentarians.

RESOLVED A One Potato Prods. Productions presentation. Produced by Greg Whiteley. Executive producers, Lisa Vick Kraus, Peter Kraus, Mark Clark, Sarah J. Clark, Marc Stanley CQ, Wendy Stanley, Andy Waters, Liz Waters. Directed by Greg Whiteley. With: Matt Andrews, Louis Blackwell, Jon Brushke, Richard Funches, Sam Iola, Dave Wiltz, Jane Pauley, Juan Williams, Samuel Alito.

The cultural and intellectual underpinnings of high school debate teams are put under the microscope in Greg Whiteley's engrossing doc, "Resolved." Full of details that will both shock and induce nostalgia among former debaters, and refreshing in its presentation of American teens as intelligent young adults, Resolved explores a fascinating rift inside the debate world that could portend a coming revolution. More cerebral than other documentaries it superficially resembles, like "Spellbound," Resolved is a well-told story..

SPEW (poster not available)

The 2003 Dartmouth Debate Institute was the subject of a short documentary film directed by a graduate student from the University of Southern California. Titled "Spew: The Competitive World of High School Debate," the film explains the origins and excitement of debate for a general interest audience. The film's director, Steven Kung, is a former high school debater who is one of only two people to ever attend DDI three times.

"I think DDI and high school debate have had a profound influence on my life, and I really wanted to show the world what I saw in debate and why I thought it was so special," Kung said. "I also don't think debate has ever been portrayed accurately in the media. It's always been shown in a "Stand and Deliver," "Inherit the Wind" kind of way-very theatrical and oratory. But that's not the reality. Debate is actually very fast and aggressive.

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The win-win power of debate must be communicated to teachers and parents who want success for their children.

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This is our message to urban students:

Your Voice. Your Future. Debate.

2007 Associated Leaders of Urban Debate
330 West 42nd Street Suite 2420
New York, NY 10036
(Tel) 1-866-4DEBATE, (fax) 212-471-8664