Best Kept Secret (FILM REVIEW)
Best Kept
Secret
Film Review by Kam Williams
Moving Documentary
Chronicles Dedicated Teacher’s Selfless Efforts on Behalf of Her Autistic
Students
Janet Mino teaches at JFK High in Newark, a public school
for students with special education needs. By 2012, she had been working with
the same small group of autistic boys for four years, which meant that they
would all be graduating together in the spring.
Understandably, Ms. Mino had grown quite
fond and rather protective of her class, given how autistic kids are generally sweet
souls of unfathomable innocence. In addition, she knew that upon aging out of
the system and receiving their diplomas, they would essentially be forced to
fend for themselves in a hard, cruel world not inclined to lend a helping hand.
For that reason, she devoted much of
their senior year to preparing them for life beyond the protective cocoon that
she had so lovingly created. That’s why she asked them where they would like to
work, whether in a fast food restaurant, a factory or elsewhere, with the hope
that she might be able to help them avoid ending up vegetating at home, institutionalized,
or even out on the streets.
Therefore, after school hours, she
would visit various local establishments to pressure potential employers to
take a chance on a child with autism. Otherwise, without the daily stimulation
of a structured environment, they were likely to lose the communication and
interpersonal skills she’d so carefully cultivated.
Ms. Mino’s heroic efforts are the
subject of Best Kept Secret, as uplifting a documentary as you are likely to
see this year. The picture was directed by Samantha Buck whose camera captures
each of Janet’s pupils so intimately that you feel like you know them by the
time that closing credits start to roll.
Furthermore, as the tears stream
down your cheeks, you can’t help but worry about how each might be faring today.
If this movie’s aim is to find the deepest spot in the audience’s heart, then bull’s
eye!
A
magnificent tapestry of touching relationships more like mother and child than
student-teacher. When scientists
figure out how to clone humans, they ought to start with Janet Mino.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 85 minutes
Studio: Argot
Pictures
Distributor: IFC
To see a trailer for Best
Kept Secret, visit: http://argotpictures.com/best_kept_secret.html
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