SXSW Preview: Frontrunners

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 27, 2008

When I say the word “election”, what do you think of? You may say that you think of the 2008 Presidential Election that is now in high gear. But if I were to ask documentarian Caroline Suh, she would probably say that she thinks of an election on a smaller, but no less cut-throat scale: the student body elections at Stuyvesant High School. The student elections are the subject of her documentary Frontrunners, which will make its debut at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival.

Frontrunners follows the candidates in one of the country’s most competitive high school environments as they lay out strategy, overcome obstacles such as homework and college applications, and utilize many of the tactics seen in national elections to try and earn themselves a spot amongst their class’ elite.

At first glance, this film reminds me of Nanette Burstein’s awesome doc American Teen, which played at Sundance and is also playing at SXSW. Take a look at the trailer below:

For more, check out FrontrunnersTheFilm.com

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