This observational documentary follows a year in the lives of two inspirational teachers in the only primary-age boarding school in Ireland. Headfort, a school not unlike Hogwarts with its 18th century buildings, secret doors and magical woodlands has been home to John and Amanda Leyden for 46 years and a backdrop to their extraordinary careers.For John, rock music is just another subject alongside Maths, English, Scripture and Latin, all of which are taught in a collaborative and often hilarious fashion. Tucked away in a cellar that's home to the school's two rock bands, John nurtures a special kind of youth revolution that teaches responsibility and independence in equal measure, wrapped up in heavy metal or pop or, as he tells the kids, they can play whatever they want, as it's their space.
- Director: Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane
- Country: Spain
- Genre: Documentary
- Year: 2017
- Run Time: 01:34:00
- imdb Score: 8.3/10 (78 votes)
- Language: English,Spanish
- Rating: Not Rated
- Cast:
Gary Garrison - THE PLAYLIST
""School Life" is as charming, intimate and warm-hearted an observational documentary as you'd ever want to see."
Kenneth Turan - LOS ANGELES TIMES
"By highlighting sweet, indicative, or hilarious moments rather than tracing the teachers’ relationships with any particular students, the film is more attuned to the rhythms of Headfort than it is the people in it."
David Ehrlich - INDIEWIRE
"A rambunctious collage of a self-contained self-sustaining world, with its own rules of play and concerns."
Sheila O'Malley - ROGEREBERT.COM
San Francisco Int'l Film Festival 2017
Best Documentary Feature
Visions du Réel Festival Int'l de Cinema Nyon 2017
Best Film
Int'l Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2016
San Francisco Int'l Film Festival 2017
Berkshire Int'l Film Festival 2017
Nantucket Film Festival 2017
Sundance Film Festival 2017
DocAviv Film Festival 2017
Sydney Film Festival 2017