Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
There have been several news stories recently
about wealthy parents doing anything possible
to get their kids into prestigious universities,
some even breaking the law to do so.
Tonight's film accepted tells a similar story,
only the kids you'll meet tonight are not well off--
just the opposite.
They're underprivileged students at T.M. Landry,
an unconventional K-12 school in Louisiana.
T.M. Landry was founded by Mike Landry and his wife Tracey
in the kitchen of their home in 2005.
They started with just five homeschoolers.
Despite not being an accredited school,
T.M Landry had many success stories of students
getting into Ivy League colleges.
Director Dan Chen started out with the goal of showcasing
T.M. Landry's educational success stories
but was thrown for a loop after just two weeks of filming
when a New York Times article ran a story alleging that
the school falsified transcripts and ACT scores,
embellished college applications,
and claimed founder Mike Landry
was physically abusive toward students.
Once the scandal broke,
Chen and his crew stopped production immediately,
feeling as though they would be misleading viewers.
But a group of parents persuaded Chen
to keep telling the story and expose the truth.
Chen embraced the challenge,
knowing it would be a more complicated story to tell,
especially when their access to the school
was completely shut down.
After changing course with his narrative,
Chen said the one constant that remained
was his access to the students.
Through their stories,
the viewer saw the events that unfolded
after the scandal broke
through the eyes of those affected the most.
Dan Chen's film asks the question
"Is education about knowledge and teaching?
"Or is it about putting the best school name next to yours
so you can obtain the best possible job?"
It's an interesting question...
and there will be a quiz after the film.
accepted starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.