Our summer film, LOUDER THAN A BOMB, is an inspiring documentary about a diverse group of teenagers working together. It’s about passion, competition, teamwork, and trust.  It’s about the joy of being young, and the pain of growing up. It’s about speaking out, making noise, and finding your voice. And it’s also about poetry.

Every year, more than six hundred teenagers from over sixty Chicago area schools gather for the competition. Rather than emphasize individual poets and performances, the structure of Louder Than a Bomb demands that kids work collaboratively with their peers, presenting, critiquing, and rewriting their pieces. To succeed, teams have to create an environment of mutual trust and support. For many kids, being a part of such an environment—in an academic context—is life-changing.

The film documents four teams confronting stereotypes as they prepare for and compete in the event. By turns hopeful and heartbreaking, the film captures the tempestuous lives of these unforgettable kids, exploring the ways writing shapes their world, and vice versa. This is not “high school poetry” as we often think of it. This is language as a joyful release, irrepressibly talented teenagers obsessed with making words dance.  How and why they do it—and the community they create along the way—is the story at the heart of this inspiring film. Directed by Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel.

Ages 12 and up.

2 FREE SCREENINGS:
Piedmont: Thursday,  July 10, 2014
Ellen Driscoll Playhouse, 325 Highland Ave., Piedmont
6:30 pm: Free reception with light refreshments
7:00 pm: Screening of film
8:40 pm: Community discussion

Oakland: Saturday, July 26
New Parkway Theater, 474 24th Street, Oakland
3:00 pm