Documentary

TGS On Film

The first year of the school was the subject of a documentary by Christina Barnes, who created the film as part of her Master’s thesis at MIT. The film captures the passion that students and staff alike brought to the task of creating a new school. It focuses primarily on how students and staff made decisions together— about everything from course content and attendance policies to whether courses in the women’s studies program would be open to male students.

We’ve also included Barnes’ accompanying thesis statement: An Analysis of the Organization of an Alternative School: Using Film as a Research Method, and The First Year, explanatory text placing the film in the context of the school’s history and philosophy.