Middletown

Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss (Girls State, T/F 2024) breathe life into an enthralling archive of the students of “Electronic English,” a high school media and Journalism class led by an eccentric and inspiring teacher, Fred Isseks. What starts as a simple assignment to investigate the local landfill soon spins out into a wild story involving organized crime, public health and political corruption. The hard-to-believe revelations are deftly reconstructed through layers of memory, present day accounts and footage from the students’ film. A portrait of youth empowerment and the profound impact of education, Middletown is an exhilarating portrait of a unique moment before the rise of citizen journalism and social media. “Be creative, use your talent to make stuff, instead of consuming stuff”, Isseks’ words to his students reach through time offering a lesson in critical thinking and civic responsibility. (AT)