On These Grounds

On These Grounds is an enthralling, thought-provoking and socially resonant documentary film directed by Hannah Ayers and Lance Warren that was released in 2021. The film doggedly pursues the age-old question of violence, authority, and discrimination in American schools, specifically focusing on the South Carolina incident involving a Black teenage girl violently removed from her classroom by a school resource officer. The extensive examination of the incident invites the audience to look beyond what is captured in the viral video and understand the underlying factors contributing to such situations.

The film unfolds in Spring Valley High School in Richland County, South Carolina, affording a deeply human and contextual narrative to the incident. Packaged into a brisk documentary, the film offers an insightful reminder of the systemic racism that infests American public schools and societal systems at large, acting as a mirror to society's many shortcomings.

While the theme of the movie is heavy and potentially disturbing, Ayers and Warren handle the storytelling with a nuanced and compassionate eye. Interweaving unforgettable imagery and genuine interviews that pull no punches, they construct a straightforward narrative that embraces the complexities of its subject matter. The film doesn't merely recount the incident; it investigates it closely, shedding light on various facets, such as the policy dynamics involved, the systemic racism, and the role of authority figures in the school environment.

On These Grounds also holds up a magnifying glass to the individuals involved, including the main protagonist Niya Kenny. The film gives a voice to Niya, whose perspective highlights some of the daunting everyday realities of African American students in the American public school system. The veracity and raw emotion in Kenny’s story has the potential to strike a deep chord within audiences, encouraging them to understand and sympathize with her perspective. Her brave stand against what she perceived as an injustice in the classroom, and her subsequent arrest and expulsion, offer a devastatingly real fact-check to those who metamorphosize police brutality into isolated incidents.

More than just an assembly of talking heads and explanatory voice-overs, On These Grounds is filled with heartfelt and gripping interviews from the people most closely involved in the incident and its aftermath. It features interviews and perspectives from students, teachers, school administrators, and law enforcement officials. Each view provides a unique vantage point, engendering a profoundly complex and layered narrative that challenges audience assumptions and compels in-depth thought and conversation about school policies, racial bias, and systematized oppression.

The documentary reveals rather than tells, offering essential background information and context from multiple viewpoints to let audiences draw their conclusions. The exploration of the School-to-Prison pipeline phenomenon and the criminalization of Black teenagers in American schools has been an eye-opening segment for many.

The riveting cinematography of the film illuminates the simple yet powerful message of the documentary, shielding it from becoming excessively didactic. The director duo decorates their canvass with vivid visuals and rhythmic montage sequences that transcendentally discourse the societal malaise, evoking emotions that linger long after the credits roll.

Despite its gripping narrative and pressing issues, On These Grounds is as much a tale of hope and resilience as it is a critique of the flawed education system. It’s about taking stand, raising voice against systemic racism, revealing strength, and manifesting resilience through adversity. It offers an inspiring message that things can, and, in some ways, have already begun to change.

In conclusion, On These Grounds is a heart-wrenching, deeply insightful, and fiercely relevant documentary that forces viewers to reckon with uncomfortable truths about systemic racism and violence in American schools. Its lack of cheap sentimentalism and narrative honesty elevates it from a good movie to a great one, which is worthy of your time and attention. It is a much-needed call to serious introspection and, possibly, to action.