April–June 2005 Screenings
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Spellbound
2002 - Jeff Blitz - 95 - U.S.A.
Fri 8 Oct 2004 at 8.30pm
Astor Cinema, Scariff
Storyline: Spellbound is the multi award-winning documentary that presents the hilarious real-life experience of eight young people as they race towards the top prize in the world’s toughest, most unforgiving challenge - the National Spelling Bee. Spelling is, in its quaint and uniquely American way, the great equalizer - if you can spell, nothing else matters. Hailed in America as one of the toughest, most rousing and suspenseful of all televised competitions, the National Spelling Bee finals are now a highly rated event on the ESPN sports channel. Pitched as a breath bating, nail-biting face-off among hundreds of kids who train as rigorously as any Olympic athlete and who are every bit as heroic in their quest for glory. By the same token, it is the only competition with absolutely no second chances - one misspelled word anywhere along the way and you are gone. From Emily, hailing from the pampered suburbs of Connecticut to Ashley, child of the projects in D.C. all eight youngsters are drawn from the diversity of the country - with an assortment of anxious parents as well.
The idea to make Spellbound occurred to Jeff Blitz in May of 1997, when he saw the final rounds of the National Spelling Bee on ESPN. Although the “Bee” is televised annually, Blitz, a graduate student in film production at USC, was watching for the first time and was -- literally -- spellbound
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