American High School

Nominated – Best Documentary, Broadcast Digital Awards

“A moving look at both the US public school system and what it means to be young and black in America.” The Observer

” Incredibly touching but never schmaltzy, this documentary follows students trying to give themselves a future – and the stakes have never been higher…The show is a delicately filmed and edited thing, which keeps its distance and allows the emotion to speak for itself. Every participant is treated with careful, considered respect.” The Guardian

Filmed over the course of a year at a High School in South Carolina, ‘American High School: Straight Outta Orangeburg’ is a landmark six-part series for BBC3 that follows a charismatic principal and his students, including star football players, Ivy League hopefuls, male cheerleaders and young mothers as they prepare for the next step in life.

The series reveals life through the eyes of young African-Americans, from Homecoming to graduation; from dates at the diner to senior Prom, and captures life-changing moments on the journey to adulthood. This is a High School as you’ve never seen it before, and a unique insight into how it really feels to be young and black in America today.

Damian Kavanagh, Controller BBC Three, says: “Life and Death Row won a Bafta for BBC Three and I have similar hopes for American High School - it is filmmaking at its best.”

Series Directed, Produced and Filmed by Marcus Plowright, Producer – Sarah Collinson, Assistant Producer – Laura McCutcheon, Sound Recordist and Data Manager – Rob Newman. Executive Producers – Joe Evans and Neil Crombie.

6 x 1 Hours

Distributed by All3Media International