Fear & Learning at Hoover Elementary

Prior to and following the passing of California's controversial anti-immigration Proposition 187, Laura Angelica Simón, a 4th-grade teacher at Hoover Elementary School in the Pico Union area of Los Angeles, brought a professional film crew to school to show the world who the real victims of Prop. 187 would be: the innocent children. In particular, she focused her attention on Mayra, a bright-eyed, hopeful 9-year-old girl who, under the legal letter of Prop. 187's crackdown on undocumented immigrants, would have been forced out of the school (as it turned out, Mayra would suddenly leave anyway; her mother was concerned about who would see this film). Around this central image--a promising child whose future education is jeopardized by a handful of words on a piece of paper--Simón builds an intriguing cinematic snapshot of a time, a place, and an issue that pitted citizens, teachers, and administrators against one another. Winner of a Sundance "Freedom of Expression" award, Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary could have provided a bit more background on Prop. 187, and regardless of how even-handed Simón sounds on the overlaid narration, only a very naïve viewer (or perhaps Sundance judges, who are somewhat removed from real life) would suggest that this is a measured examination of a multi-faceted issue. That said, this is still a compelling film, above and beyond its faults, which does illuminate the negative side of Prop. 187--at least in the area of education. Highly recommended for California libraries, in particular, and larger social and political collections, in general. [Note: this is also being sold at the home video price of $49.95.] Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)