TRY HARDER, directed by Debbie Lum '91, premiered at Sundance in January 2021. The film follows five seniors at San Francisco's Lowell High School through the college application process. This event will feature a virtual discussion following the initial online film screening on 9/1 with education and mental health experts TBA, and the discussion and film will be available for a five day streaming window in case you can't make it to opening night. From the film's website: "As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. They scrutinize how every element of their application, from their classes to their extracurricular activities to their racial identities, might be read by admission officers. At Lowell—where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and the majority of the student body is Asian American—the things that usually make a person stand out can feel not good enough, even commonplace. With humor and heart, director Debbie Lum takes us to the reality of the American college application process and the intersection of class, race, and educational opportunity as experienced by high school seniors living through it. Try Harder! is a portrait of young adults in the most diverse American generation ever as they navigate a quintessential rite of passage and make it their own."

RSVP here: $15 per person.