Logo

The Act of Reading

  • Documentary

February 16, 2021 (US)

1h 27m

A voyage of self-discovery...

A retired high school English teacher is confronted by a former student who failed her class 15 years prior. He then involves her in a feature-length presentation on Moby-Dick and the science of reading.

Top Casts

Offical videos from Youtube:

Similar Movies

Adolescents

Adolescents

Adolescents (2020)


Emma and Anaïs are best friends and yet everything in their life seems to set them apart, their social backgrounds but also their personalities. From the age of thirteen to eighteen, Adolescentes follows the two teenagers during these years where radical transformations and first times punctuate daily life. Through their personal stories, the film offers a rare portrait of France and its recent history.

American Teen

American Teen

American Teen (2008)


A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.

Bots High

Bots High

Bots High (2010)


Bots High is an exciting documentary following the adventures of three high school robotics teams battling for first place at a national robotics competition in Miami, Florida. It's a no-holds-barred fight to the death with robot carnage everywhere you look. Genius inventor Will builds robots so powerful they're unstoppable...if only they don't destroy themselves first. The Mechanical Misfits are an all girls team stumbling through their first foray into combat robotics and Elizabeth and Danielle are a formidable pair looking to reign supreme during their last year of high school. Bots High follows these students as they design, build and compete at Nationals - all while surviving high school, first love and teenager procrastination. A FilmBuff Presentation.

More than a Game

More than a Game

More than a Game (2008)


This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James' journey to fame.

Moby Dick: An American Allegory

Moby Dick: An American Allegory

Moby Dick: An American Allegory (2023)


A look at US society through the prism of Moby Dick, the mythical novel published by Herman Melville (1819-1891) in 1851.

The First Class

The First Class

The First Class (2023)


An intimate verité film that follows students and educators at a groundbreaking new high school in Memphis. Their inspiring journey shows what learning can look like—and accomplish—when a city comes together to rethink what high school can be.

Resolved

Resolved

Resolved (2007)


The fascinating complexity of high school debate gives way to a portrait of the equally complex racial and class bias of American education in Greg Whiteley's riveting documentary.

Freakonomics

Freakonomics

Freakonomics (2010)


Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.

Sentenced

Sentenced

Sentenced (2022)


Too often, if a child is illiterate at the end of third grade, they will fall behind forever. By nine years old, many children are already SENTENCED to the cycles of poverty, prison, and addiction that have devastated generations before them. Our story begins with a heartbreaking look at adults who never learned to read and ends with the children who still have a chance.

Junkyard Dogs

Junkyard Dogs

Junkyard Dogs (2015)


A moving, inspirational story that gives viewers a rare glimpse into the world of high school wrestling at one of Los Angeles' most elite and highly touted prep schools. Filled with drama, laughter, and heart, "Junkyard Dogs" is an underdog story that captures the essence of what it takes to be a champion and sheds light on the power and importance of one of the world's oldest sports.

The Legacy of Othello

The Legacy of Othello

The Legacy of Othello (2022)


A fascinating exploration of the literary — The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, by English playwright William Shakespeare (1604) — and lyrical — Othello, by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (1887) — myth of Othello, the desperately tragic story of a Moorish general in the army of the Venetian Republic whose absurd jealousy poisons his love for his wife Desdemona.

My So-Called High School Rank

My So-Called High School Rank

My So-Called High School Rank (2022)


A deep dive into the lives of high school students in three radically disparate communities as they navigate the pressures around college while staging a musical, until seismic events upend their dreams and expectations.

We Did It on a Song

We Did It on a Song

We Did It on a Song (2014)


This film tells the stormy tale of a group of friends from Boulogne-sur-Mer, a French town hit by the financial crisis. A year between dreams and disillusion, imagined by teenagers from a working or middle class background, with songs that regularly add poetry, laughter, and emotion to reality.

Spanish A.B.C.

Spanish A.B.C.

Spanish A.B.C. (1938)


A short film on Republican efforts to improve education standards during the Spanish Civil War.

Frontrunners

Frontrunners

Frontrunners (2008)


A documentary on the competition for student body president at New York's Stuyvesant High School. As the notoriously competitive school's election draws near, the campaign becomes a microcosm for the nation at large, with race, gender and appearance vying for attention with real issues.

Science Fair

Science Fair

Science Fair (2018)


Filmmakers follow nine high school students from around the globe as they compete at an international science fair. Facing off against 1,700 of the smartest teens from 78 countries, only one will be named Best in Fair.

Home + Away

Home + Away

Home + Away (2018)


This coming-of-age story follows three students of El Paso's Bowie High and their search for the American dream, a dream inspired by family, fueled by sports, and complicated by the US/Mexican border.

Seventeen

Seventeen

Seventeen (1983)


In their final year at Muncie's Southside High School, a group of seniors hurtles toward maturity with a combination of joy, despair, and an aggravated sense of urgency. They are also learning a great deal about life, both in and out of school, and not what school officials think they are teaching.

From Paseo To Pembroke: Kansas City's Golden Age

From Paseo To Pembroke: Kansas City's Golden Age

From Paseo To Pembroke: Kansas City's Golden Age (2021)


From Paseo to Pembroke is a Kansas City documentary retrospective on the golden age of high school basketball. From '88 to '98—from the Dotte all the way to Raytown. Told by the era's premier coaches, players and media personalities.

How to Dance in Ohio

How to Dance in Ohio

How to Dance in Ohio (2015)


In Columbus, Ohio, a group of autistic teenagers and young adults role-play this transition by going through the deceptively complex social interactions of preparing for a spring formal. Focusing on several young women as they go through an iconic American rite of passage, we are given intimate access to people who are often unable to share their experiences with others. With humor and heartbreak, How to Dance in Ohio shows the daily courage of people facing their fears and opening themselves to the pain, worry, and joy of the social world.