And as federal money has been taken away from our country’s education, the loan movement has begun to resemble the subprime housing crisis, giving people debt that their children will have to repay. [5] Paramount Pictures will handle the international release of the film, while Participant Media will handle the campaign for film's theatrical release. A documentary that questions the cost -- and value -- of higher education in the United States. Stats fly across the screen like the fact that 68% of the students who are paying small fortunes for their education at public universities won’t graduate within four years. "[10] Matt Goldberg in his review for Collider said that "Ivory Tower almost seems ambivalent about the college crisis, but it’s never cold or emotionless. And "Ivory Tower" serves as a way to start the conversation about why education is seen as a financial privilege instead of a right for all who need it or are willing to work for it. The 2014 documentary ‘The Ivory Tower’ reveals worrying trends in higher education across North America. Documentary Competition", "Preview Of Hollywood Movies Releasing On 13th June 2014", "CNN Films' Documentary 'Ivory Tower' Gets Distribution", "The Best Documentaries of 2014 So Far: 'Actress,' 'The Case Against 8,' and 'Concerning Violence' Join the List", Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ivory_Tower_(2014_film)&oldid=961121647, Documentary films about education in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 June 2020, at 18:29. The biographical film opens at the University of Harvard, the nations oldest institution of higher learning, on move-in day. Perhaps Rossi places the Udacity saga near the final act of "Ivory Tower" to circle back to the beginning. There’s enough interesting, raw material in "Ivory Tower" to consider but one wishes it was shaped into something more cohesive and pointed in its attack and approach.

Rated PG-13 For the 2010 Canadian Independent Film, see, "2014 Sundance Docs in Focus: IVORY TOWER", "Meet the 2014 Sundance Filmmakers #19: Andrew Rossi's 'Ivory Tower' Explores the Perils of the American Educational System", "Sundance 2014: U.S. [2][3] The film premiered in competition category of U.S. It’s understandable that "Ivory Tower" director Andrew Rossi isn’t certain what that "something" is but his unfocused approach for at least the first half of his documentary is downright jarring. In fact, there are at least three sections of "Ivory Tower" that could be branched out into their own, more satisfying standalone documentaries, including profiles of the UnCollege Movement, the recent events at the Cooper Union, and the lessons learned in the relationship between San Jose State University and the online learning company Udacity. Ivory Tower is a 2014 American documentary film written, directed and produced by Andrew Rossi. Andrew Rossi’s documentary “ Ivory Tower ” gets to the bottom of that while examining another hot topic: Is higher education, with its skyrocketing price tag, worth it? In fact, there are at least three sections of "Ivory Tower" that could be branched out into their own, more satisfying standalone documentaries, including profiles of the UnCollege Movement, the recent events at the Cooper Union, and the lessons learned in the relationship between San Jose State University and the online learning company Udacity. Analysis Of The Documentary ' Ivory Tower ' By Andrew Rossi, For the past half a century education has been heralded as the key to success. The film jumps from the impact of Harvard on the education system as a whole to the party school atmosphere at Arizona State University to the interesting story of Deep Springs College, without spending enough time on any of these stories to give them resonance. Each is examined in turn to determine both the positive and negative aspects. In 2013 Cooper Union was faced with a financial crisis. The film questions the value of higher education in an era when the price of college has increased more than any other service in the United States. The film premiered in competition category of U.S. From there, in order to provide a complete overview of the complete college experience, several other types of colleges are shown; such as community, 2-year, and vocational schools.

Is college overrated? Until recently. This chapter of "Ivory Tower" is easily its strongest, and could have served as the whole documentary, seeing as it is really the culmination of so many issues in our educational crisis today. Someone should. If the message of "Ivory Tower" is that we have to accept our broken system, it’s a hard one to take (especially for this father of three). "[11] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, calling it "a stimulating and upsetting look at how high tuition and huge student loans have created a perfect storm over American colleges. It explores the different types of higher education around the nation. The crucial question that "Ivory Tower" fails to ask is the most important one of all: What do we do now? The cost of an education has increased more quickly in the past few decades than any other good or service.

The documentary “Ivory Tower”, directed by Andrew Rossi, calls that whole notion into question. Half of our college-educated people in this country under 25 are underemployed or unemployed, with debt that is increasing at rates that should be illegal. The new documentary “ Ivory Tower,” by filmmaker Andrew Rossi, explores the growing student debt crisis, and how colleges got to a point where they’re spending millions to put in country club-like facilities on campus. Fighting against the decision, a group of students occupied the president’s office from May till July in protest until the administration agreed to rethink their, Ethical Approval For The University Of Plymouth Ethics Committee, Child Maltreatment And Its Effects On Children, Domestic Violence And Its Effects On Society. Ivory Tower is a portrait of institutional stasis. Competition for prestige among high-profile universities has led to rampant expansion. More and more, it’s a key that’s coming with baggage, including thousands of dollars in student loans. For so much of American history, college has been sold as the key to the future. Worst of all, no one is sufficiently asking what our increasingly in-debt kids are getting for their high-APR loans. “Ivory Tower,” a documentary about soaring costs and other problems confronting higher education, can’t seem to decide what points it wants to make and ends up making none. Until Cooper Union. Run entirely off of private donations, the famously free college had made a series of bad investments and thus run out of money. I had similar feelings about later chapters on the UnCollege movement—a San Francisco-based community of people who are trying to use so many of the tools now available to young people to learn without academia—and the fascinating story of Udacity, one that reminds us of the value of traditional education. When a new President, Jamshed Bharucha, came to the conclusion that the school could no longer survive without charging students to learn there, chaos ensued. The film is thought-provoking, to say the least, but we thought we’d pull out just a few takeaways from the movie: I’m a bit late to the party for watching the 2014 documentary The Ivory Tower, on higher education, but the documentary itself is only becoming more and more relevant. A large portion of the documentary focuses on Cooper Union, a small private college located in Manhattan. These include: community colleges, four year universities, vocational schools, online courses, and less traditional forms of education. The documentary IVORY TOWER examines the history, current situation and future of higher education in the United States. Harvard gets the star treatment, with loving glimpses of the inevitable John Harvard statue, impressive buildings, and energetic students.



Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. The biographical film opens at the University of Harvard, the nations oldest institution of higher learning, on move-in day. Critics pointed to the debt amassed by the construction of a very expensive new building on campus and the $700k+ salary of their new leader, and students did what so many critics of millennials claim they are incapable of doing: they staged a revolution. Hundreds of new students and their parents flood the campus grounds of one of America’s most prestigious universities. And all of it means more tuition. for some suggestive and partying images. Parents across the country preach to their children that, providing they acquire a college education and degree, the world is their oyster. If you don’t know the story, Cooper Union is a Manhattan college that was founded on the radical model of free education and continued to provide tuition-free learning for decades. [9] Frank Bruni of The New York Times called the film "an astonishingly thorough tour of the university landscape. Something has to be done. Ivory Tower is a 2014 American documentary film written, directed and produced by Andrew Rossi. [4], After its premiere at Sundance Film Festival, Participant Media, Paramount Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired distribution rights of the film. The film argues that the high cost of tuition is at a breaking point. "Well, the Harvard model may not be working, but we haven’t found a better one." Brian Tallerico is the Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. It predicts a revolution brought about by technology and by students who decide the price of college is higher than the value received. Hundreds of new students and their parents flood the campus grounds of one of America’s most prestigious universities.

The film had a theatrical release on June 13, 2014 in United States by Samuel Goldwyn Films. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association. As might be assumed, the students did not receive the news well. Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. The film was named one of the best documentaries of 2014 by Indiewire. They protested in the form of a sit-in in the President’s office. We see some of those institutions in greater detail, starting with Columbia’s campus.

"[12], This article is about Ivory Tower (2014 film). The documentary “Ivory Tower”, directed by Andrew Rossi, calls that whole notion into question. Memory House by Brazilian Director Joao Paulo Miranda Maria Wins the Roger Ebert Award at the 56th Chicago International Film Festival, High Powered: Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson on Synchronic, Highlights from Ebert Symposium on Future of Movie Industry, Ebert Symposium 2020: Part 2 Streaming Today, October 22nd, 2020. And then we’ve moved on before that stat or its impact is placed in context. "Ivory Tower" raises a number of fascinating questions and offers numerous facts on the current, deeply flawed state of the American system of higher education but suffers from a lack of focus or even a hint of what we do about the situation.
More programs means more facilities, means more students, means more attention, and so on. In order to keep the college afloat the president of the university, Jamshed Bharucha, made the drastic decision to begin charging incoming students tuition. [6][7] The film was first broadcast on CNN on November 20, 2014.[8].