I AM A PROMISE

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary and candidly diretced by Alan and Susan Raymond, I Am a Promise paints a poignantly captivating, unflinching, and relevant verite' portrait of the children of Stanton Elementary School in North Philadelphia, an inner-city neighborhood where 90% of the students live below the poverty line. As seen through the devoted and determined viewpoint of principal Deanna Burney, the film shows Stanton as grossly underfunded, understaffed, and filled with children struggling to overcome their difficulties. However, for these at-risk kids growing up outside the American dream, the only hope for their future survives in the success of their education.