Paper Clips
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Movie Reviews of Paper Clips
Movie Review: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Summary: 5 Stars
A lot of reviewers have panned this documentary because of its lack of filmic sophistication, its cheesy voice over narrations, the planned sound of some of the interviews, and its "pedagogical hyperbole"(these points are true -- but I think these so-called flaws actually affirm to the viewer the cultural roots of this documentary). I think the reason to see Paperclips, and to clap bravo, is not because it breaks new filmmaking ground, but because it is about love. Yes, there are TONS of Hollywood movies about "love." But this documentary about a Holocaust project at a homogeneous middle school in rural Whitwell, Tennessee (population 1,600), shows the real deal in action as it transforms not only the attitudes of the teachers -- principal Linda Hooper, vice-principal David Smith, and teacher Sandra Roberts -- and the students, but Whitwell itself.
The Paperclip Project started as a special eighth-grade class designed to teach diversity and address issues of hate and intolerance. During the first year of the project (1998), a student learned that the Norwegians wore paperclips on their lapels in defiance of the Nazis. The eighth graders decided to collect six million paperclips as both a way to understand such an overwhelming figure, and as a tribute to the Jews who died in the Holocaust. However, the students attempt to solicit paperclips through a letter writing campaign was not very successful. Then, as fate would have it, two German journalists (White House correspondents Peter and Dagmar Schroeder) wrote a story about the Whitwell project and suddenly "changing the world one paperclip at a time" blossomed in to something that no one in Whitwell could have imagined.
Put your world weary cynicism aside for an hour or two, and watch (look at the faces, they tell the story) these earnest, open-hearted students (and the teachers and the townsfolk too) as they find themselves creating a final resting place for some of the broken-hearted memories of those touched directly by the horror of Hitler's "Final Solution."
Movie Review: Amazing,Just Absolutely Amazing Documentary That Will Touch Your Heart!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this DVD several weeks ago and I am still moved and in awe of it.It absolutely blew me away,on so many levels.It grabbed me from the beginning,because like one of students said "I don't know what six million looks like"! I, and how many others really have trouble grasping that concept? What an amazing idea for the teacher to make it real and understandable for the class. One could only dream for a teacher such as this for their children,and a community who would be willing to share as much as this one did. Then after watching how this project touched so many hearts,I watched the DVD extras and was blown away doubly to learn how many others were moved to contribute their time,and talents to help this project. So many were such a blessing and I have no doubt they were blessed for it. I believe there can be no doubt that God was extremely pleased and an active partner in the production of this film.
I just read yesterday that another school, (for a Hebrew class) is collecting pennies for the same type of project and I pray that everyone involved will be as blessed and be a blessing as in this case. It would be wonderful if this film was required viewing in every Jr. High school. I truly believe once seen,never forgotten. It will make you think on so many levels. Not only does it make you think about hatred,but also about the danger of total passivity when a group with radical ideology,such as the U.K.,France,Norway, and others are now experiencing from the radical Muslims,but it also makes you think about how the film shows the truth of what Anne Frank said "when people hear about something good they want to be part of it" and make you think how we all would love to share in the community spirit that this community of Whitwell,Tennesse experienced. It made me think of the love in my church family,but some of the gatherings here for their visitors were several different churches and denominations joining together. What a beautiful thing. I'm ordering this today!
Movie Review: Our Children Are Our Future
Summary: 5 Stars
Sometimes it frightens me to think of what our future will be, in an age where most households have two parents that have to work and we rely on the village to help us raise them, I take comfort in knowing there is a place like this little town in TN.
They may be "poor" or in a "depressed" economy like the principal stated, but they are rich in the things that count most in this world.
I watched this film for the first time last evening with my 11 year old daughter, the tissue box was never far from hand because the entire story was so moving to us.
There is a young man who was in one of the first group of 8th graders that was at the time of the documentary getting ready for college, he stated that he can't wait for the question to come up in some of his interviews for schools about what's been the most significant event in your life to date, he said this project will be his answer how could it not?
From the survior who told his story of being seperated from his mother and younger brother at the camps only to discover that they had been sent to the cremitorium upon entering, to the vice principals admission that he was guilty of prejudice against not only other races but his students and their value as people,I was heartbroken.
If you can watch this film and not have a life altering experience from it I would be shocked. I think every school should host a talk with survivors because as one of them pointed out the only way people will know about it after they are gone is by what they've read in books.
I've read books, I've read the Diary of Anne Frank for school myself, but nothing compares to hearing their accounts first hand, in print you can imagine it as fiction because you mind doesn't want to imagine such things could be true, in person you can't deny the power of their spirts and the events that shaped their lives.
If you could only view one documentary in your lifetime I think it should be this one.
Movie Review: eighth grade wisdom
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1998 principal Linda Hooper and two teachers at the middle school in Whitwell, Tennessee (a former mining town with a population of 1,600) cast about for a school project that would teach their eight graders about prejudices, stereotypes, diversity, and tolerance. Their little town, they knew, was entirely white, and the middle school enrolled no Jews, no Catholics, only five African Americans, and one Hispanic. They settled on the theme of the Holocaust. But how to teach it? They would collect one paper clip for each person killed by Hitler--six million in all, inspired by Norwegians who had worn a paper clip on their lapel during the war to protest the Holocaust. The project stalled after an initial burst of energy and enthusiasm, then a reporter for the Washington Post and the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw ran pieces about the project. In the end they collected 27 million paper clips from around the world, 11 million of which they displayed in a rail car that had transported Jews to the death camps. Walls fall, and hearts open. The teachers tell how they stereotype northerners, and even their own students. The town meets Holocaust survivors who speak in the local Methodist church. This might not be a great documentary film. I thought it dragged a little, plus I think it is hard to say much new about the Holocaust. But the simple narration of how real people were genuinely transformed in an otherwise insignificant middle school was remarkable. I only wish I had watched Paper Clips with my ninth grade daughter. Don't miss this film.Movie Review: "Changing the World One Class at a Time"...
Summary: 5 Stars
0 Jews, 0 Catholics, 5 Black kids and 1 Hispanic, "We're all alike," said Principal Linda Hooper, "and when we come up to someone not like us, we don't have a clue."
After searching for a project that would involve tolerance and diversity education, Hooper accepted Assistant Principal David Smith's idea for a Holocaust Project, since it would actually encompass and exceed the original goal by also teaching about evil, and the danger of indifference that lets prejudice and intolerance go unchecked. Teacher Linda Hooper joined in, and from 1998-2003, Holocaust survivors, media, and special people everywhere contributed to this adventure of mind and heart.
Seeking to comprehend the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust, the mostly White, Protestant students of rural Whitwell Middle School sought out to collect 6 million of something...then they found it on the internet: paperclips! Norweigians not only invented paperclips, but also wore them on their collars during the Holocaust as a symbol to represent the victims.
Clips were mailed to the students from all over, and often a clip was accompanied by a letter telling a story of a Holocaust victim whose soul was being represented by the clip. The suitcase from Germany...wow. Such a different and beautiful Holocaust movie, this quaint documentary, narrated mostly by Hooper with her gentle, southern voice. There is a boxcar memorial in Whitwell, TN now, and I will be visiting it.