Taking place Friday, December 5th at 7 PM.
Seating it limited and on a first come first served basis.
With a Special Q&A After the show!
TEENAGE WASTELAND
DIRECTED BY JESSE MOSS AND AMANDA MCBAINE
A high school A/V assignment goes full-on activist when English teacher Fred Isseks sends students, armed with video recorders, on an investigative assignment to suss out the brown muck surfacing at the local dump in their upstate New York town. The toxicity they discover lives not only in the landfill, but in political corruption and environmental injustice in their community. Archival footage of their 1996 class project, “Garbage, Gangsters, and Greed,” outtakes, diaries, and interviews with Fred and several students 30 years later weave a sobering yet buoyant story both timely and for the ages, about fighting the good fight as its own life-changing triumph.
2025 110 MIN.
“MAGNIFICENT… A FILM THAT REMINDS YOU WHY YOU LOVE DOCUMENTARIES… A paean to the power of an educator to shape minds for the better… A masterclass in the use of archival material… Another magnificent film from two of the most accomplished non-fiction filmmakers of their generation.”
– Jason Gorber, POV Magazine
“DELIGHTFUL. Restores a little faith in human nature… The students’ integrity offered a view of the world through fresh eyes.”
– Nicolas Rapold, The Financial Times
“Equal parts SCOOBY-DOO and ERIN BROCKOVICH.”
– Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter
“Inspirational… The pride felt by those who returned for an interview is deeply affecting. A compelling piece of straightforward true-crime that makes the most of its throwback form.”
– Jacob Oller, A.V. Club
“A hit at the Sundance Film Festival… A genuinely uplifting portrait of activism under fire… Movingly, a tale about teachers and the life-altering impact they can have on impressionable youth.”
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
“Filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss know their way into the good graces of the young. Through such documentaries as the Emmy-winning BOYS STATE and GIRLS STATE, they’ve also carved a niche for themselves in honoring their youthful subjects’ idealism and energy. With [TEENAGE WASTELAND], they add a twist to that gift. In bringing together Isseks and four of the most dogged of Middletown High School’s reporters, now adults, the directors tell a story of teenage tenacity but also one of adults grappling with the grit and hopes of their younger selves. That could have been overly sentimental. It’s not. With access to Issek’s voluminous, well-kept archive of VHS tapes and files, McBaine, Moss and editor Christopher Passig (Telemarketers) craft a story that has the beats of a 60 Minutes segment with hints of the emotional insights of a John Hughes movie.”
– Lisa Kennedy, Variety
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