Coolidge Education presents

Coolidge Classroom welcomes middle and high school educators of all disciplines and their students. 

Our new Center for Education and Community Engagement can accommodate up to 45 students and chaperones. Moviehouse 1 can accommodate more than 400! We look forward to facilitating dialogue among students from multiple schools, classrooms, or disciplines simultaneously, so whether your class is large or small, you’re invited!

We encourage teachers to preview films and refer to Common Sense Media when determining whether a film is appropriate for their students. We are also happy to consult on sensitive content and available scaffolds for discussing challenging subjects. For questions about curricular applications, email [email protected].

See our accessibility page here for the resources available at the theater.

Assisted Listening (amplification) headsets are always available. To find out whether audio description, open captions, or close captions are available for your field trip, email [email protected]. 

In curating films that speak to themes in STEM, world language, social studies, and ELA, we strive to build a series that reflects the plural, intersecting identities of our students, including a variety of documentary and narrative, classic and contemporary, international and American films. 

This program is designed by our Director of Education Sophie Blum (a former high school teacher) in collaboration with an advisory committee of local educators representing 6 districts, 13 schools, and 5 disciplines including core subjects, special education, and English as a Second Language.

Coolidge curriculum addresses both Massachusetts State Frameworks and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards. 

The Farewell

September 29–October 1, 2025

Directed by: Lulu Wang | 2019 | PG | 1h 40m | In English and Mandarin; Spanish subtitles available

Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi returns to Changchun to find that her beloved Nai Nai (grandma) has been given mere weeks to live, but her family has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself.

Themes: Intergenerational families, grief, immigration

Flow

October 20–22, 2025

Directed by: Gints Zilbalodis | 2024 | PG | 1h 25m

A courageous cat teams up with a capybara and other animal friends after their home is devastated by a great flood. Celebrating the possibilities of visual storytelling without dialogue, this animated journey through realms natural and mystical affirms the spirit of community amidst a fragile environment.

Themes: Animated storytelling, ecological disaster, community & empathy (SEL)

After Yang

November 17–19, 2025

Directed by: Kogonada | 2021 | PG | 1h 36m | In English; Spanish subtitles available

In a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down. This screening will feature a presentation and Q&A with a local guest speaker from the field of artificial intelligence and engineering.

Themes: Artificial intelligence, memory & consciousness, science fiction & dystopias, family, technology, transracial adoption, Science on Screen®

A Nice Indian Boy

December 8–10, 2025

Directed by: Roshan Sethi | 2025 | NR (raunchy language and mild cursing) | 1h 37m | In English

In this Bollywood-inspired rom-com, cultures collide when an introverted doctor brings his white boyfriend home to meet his traditional East Indian family.

Themes: LGBTQ+ representation, intercultural families, romantic comedy, national cinemas & Bollywood

I Am Not Your Negro

January 26–28, 2026

Directed by: Raoul Peck | 2016 | PG-13 | 1h 36m | In English; Spanish subtitles available

Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished in this creative documentary using Baldwin’s original words and a flood of rich archival material to question Black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

Themes: Documentary & literature, civil rights movement, structural racism & media history

Sleep Dealer

February 9–11, 2026

Directed by: Alex Rivera | 2008 | PG-13 | 1h 30m | In Spanish and English with English subtitles

In this dystopian vision of the US-Mexico border, young Memo Cruz "migrates" in a new way—over the net. By connecting his body to the web, Memo controls a machine that performs his labor in America, exporting his work without the body of the worker.

Themes: Immigration, economics, science fiction & dystopias, cyborgs, Science on Screen®

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

March 16–18, 2026

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki | 1984 | PG | 1h 57m | In English or Japanese

Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. This screening will feature a presentation and Q&A with a local expert on the field of climate science.

Themes: Climate justice, forest science, sustainability & urbanization, Miyazaki as auteur, Science on Screen®

La noire de... (Black Girl)

April 6–8, 2026

Directed by: Ousmene Sembène | 1966 | NR (suicide and sexual harassment) | 1h 5m | In French with Englsih subtitles

A young Senegalese woman moves to France to work for a wealthy white family only to find that life in their small apartment becomes a prison.

Themes: Colonialism & language, African cinema, Sembène as auteur & griot

Persepolis

November 18-20, 2024

Directed by: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud | 2007 | PG-13 | 1h 36m | In French, Persian, and English

Marjane Satrapi's animated adaptation of her autobiographical graphic novel about coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

Themes: Adaptation, visual storytelling and memoir, transnational literature, immigration and displacement, rebellion and activism

Dìdi

December 9-11, 2024

Directed by: Sean Wang | 2024 | R (14+ Common Sense Media Rating) | 1h 31m | In English and Mandarin

An irreverent and affecting ode to adolescence and growing up online in 2008, as seen through the lens of a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy.

Themes: Coming of age, intergenerational families, Asian American experience, “screenagers” and social media

Pan's Labyrinth

January 27-29, 2025

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro | 2006 | R (15+ Common Sense Media Rating) | 1h 58m | In Spanish

Eleven-year-old Ofelia navigates an eerie fairy tale world symbolic of her life in Franco's Spain.

Themes: Magical realism, fascism, war-time childhood, del Toro as auteur, violence on screen

Flee

February 10-12, 2025

Directed by: Jonas Poher Rasmussen | 2021 | PG-13 | 1h 30m | In Danish, English, Dari, Russian, and Swedish with English subtitles

In this animated documentary, Amin Nawabi tells the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.

Themes: Immigration, Intersectionality, LGBTQ experience, documentary storytelling and memoir

Coded Bias

March 10-12, 2025

Directed by: Shalini Kantayya | 2020 | TV-MA | 1h 30m | In English

This documentary explores the fallout of an MIT Media Lab researcher’s discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately. This screening features an introduction and Q&A with a local guest speaker from the field of AI and computer engineering.

Themes: Artificial intelligence, systemic racism, computer engineering, STEM careers, algorithmic justice

Throne of Blood

April 7-9, 2025

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa | 1957 | NR | 1h 50m | In Japanese

An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in feudal Japan.

Themes: Adaptation, Shakespeare's “universality," gender norms, Japanese theatrical traditions, Akira Kurosawa as auteur