HOW TO REGISTER
- Browse the DocLands Education film programs below and select the in-theater and/or online screenings you’d like your class(es) to attend.
- Click the REGISTER NOW button, and fill out the form with your film selections and number of participating students.
- If you’d like to attend multiple films, please submit a separate registration form for each screening.
- Once we receive your registration, our team will follow up to confirm your selections, finalize in-theater screening times, online screening access and assist with any additional details.
DOWNLOAD DOCLANDS 2026 CURRICULUM GUIDES
Questions? Email us at education@cafilm.org
2026 DOCLANDS EDUCATION FILM PROGRAM
AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ
GRADES: 8-12
THEMES: Chicano/a/x Culture, Arts Activism, Civil Rights, Theater for Social Change, Representation in Storytelling, Identity, Heritage
IN-THEATER: Thursday, April 30 • 10:00 AM – 11:52 PM | Smith Rafael Film Center
ONLINE: April 27 –May 2 | Available to schools anywhere in the U.S.
IN-PERSON Q&A WITH FILM EDITOR Daniel Chávez Ontiveros
ABOUT THE FILM
If Luis Valdez had only written Zoot Suit and La Bamba and nothing else, his place in American cultural history would be secure. Yet, as David Alvarado’s enthralling documentary reveals, there is much more to Valdez’s singular life and career. The son of immigrant farm workers, he grew up to make the Mexican American experience his subject, beginning with El Teatro Campesino, the theater company he founded amidst a 1965 United Farm Workers strike.
Zoot Suit, his interpretation of an infamous 1942 Los Angeles murder case would follow in 1979. He became a feature filmmaker in 1987 with La Bamba, the rollicking Richie Valens biopic that made Lou Diamond Phillips a star. Alvarado takes a chronological approach to Valdez’s life, allowing the now 85-year-old playwright to tell his own story, while friends and collaborators like Phillips, Cheech Marin, Linda Ronstadt, and Dolores Huerta add their own observations. Edward James Olmos reclaims his first important role, Zoot Suit’s El Pachuco, to playfully narrate this insightful documentary.
David Alvarado | US 2026 | 92 min
IN PERSON: Q&A with Director DAVID ALVARADO
DOCLANDS EDUCATION SHORTS
GRADES: 6-12
THEMES: Diversity in Sports & Athletics, Youth Empowerment, Music as Resistance & Healing, Storytelling & Oral Traditions
IN-THEATER: Thursday, April 30 • 10:30 AM – 12:00pm | Smith Rafael Film Center
ONLINE: April 27 –May 2 | Available to schools anywhere in the U.S.
FILMMAKERS IN PERSON FOR POST-SCREENING Q&A
PLAN C FOR CIVILIZATION
GRADES: 10-12
THEMES: Geoengineering, Emerging Technologies, Climate Science, Environmental Policy, Greenwashing, Ethics of Science
IN-THEATER: Friday, May 1 • 10:00 AM – 11:45 AM | Smith Rafael Film Center
ONLINE: April 27 –May 2 | Available to schools anywhere in the U.S.
IN-PERSON Q&A WITH DIRECTOR BEN KALINA
ABOUT THE FILM
As the climate crisis accelerates, geoengineering—purposeful human intervention into the Earth’s climate system—has moved from fringe theory to active pursuit. This analytical look centers on physicist David Keith, a prominent leader in solar geoengineering, and examines the promise and peril of intentionally cooling the planet.
Through interviews with scientists, policymakers, and critics, the film offers a measured yet urgent inquiry into technologies advancing faster than public understanding. As debates within science and environmental advocacy groups intensify and progress stalls, unregulated independent for-profit ventures such as Make Sunsets, a company that releases manmade “clouds” into the atmosphere, conduct unsanctioned experiments that underscore the absence of meaningful oversight.
Meanwhile, Keith’s ties to petroleum corporations raise difficult questions about corporate influence and possible greenwashing. Clear-eyed and timely, the documentary asks who gets to decide the planet’s future and at what cost. —Michelle Svenson
Director: Ben Kalina | US 2025 | 108 min
JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD
GRADES: 11-12 + College
THEMES: Anti-Racism Education, Implicit Bias & Privilege, Civil Rights & Social Justice, Education as a tool for Social Change, Civic Engagement & Responsibility
IN-THEATER: Friday, May 1 • 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Smith Rafael Film Center
ONLINE: April 27 –May 2 | Available to schools anywhere in the U.S.
VIRTUAL Q&A WITH DIRECTOR JUDD ERLICH
ABOUT THE FILM
A rural Iowa teacher who taught her all-white class a 1968 lesson in discrimination becomes a national voice against racism and, after decades of speaking out, remains an unfiltered force in the fight over history and power in America.
Director: Judd Ehrlich | US 2026 | 99 min
*CONTENT ADVISORY: This film contains strong language, profanity, and an honest take on the history of racism in America. We encourage educators to create supportive spaces for reflection and conversation.