![]() ![]() Through Anne Frank, she opened their eyes to a thirteen-year-old girl going through a war of her own and how writing helped her cope with her situation - and then, Erin Gruwell showed them how to apply that to their own lives." ![]() "Erin Gruwell asked them to write about their wars and battles and it opened the gates for them to share their lives, which no one had ever asked them to do before. "The kids learned to pick up a pen instead of a gun, and the act of writing saved them," explains director Richard LaGravenese. It was Erin Gruwell's next assignment that would profoundly change her students' lives: she asked them to keep a journal, recording their experiences, their emotions, their challenges, and their triumphs. Assigning them The Diary of Anne Frank, she found that many students were able to identify with Anne's challenges growing up in a warzone. On paper, Wilson seemed to be perfect because it was this fusion of affluent kids and abject poverty, and included every ethnicity under the sun with kids who could be headed off to Harvard or off to jail."Īfter a tragedy shook the student body, Erin Gruwell searched for a way to address the issues in her students' lives. "I really wanted a school that had diversity, that had been affected by the riots and could be this wonderful eclectic mix of races and economics and cultures. "I felt that in some way teaching was the most noble thing that I could do in our own country, working with kids who oftentimes don't have the best teachers, supplies or the best schools," says Erin Gruwell. "After I read the script, I wanted to meet her, talk to her, and tell her how important I thought her story was." "I poured out my heart in an e-mail to Erin," Hilary Swank continues. When I found out that I was Erin's first choice to bring her story to the screen, I thought it would be an honor to do so." I felt in my heart and soul that I needed to be a part of telling this story. "True stories resonate with me," says Hilary Swank, who won her first Academy Award® for her portrayal of Brandon Teena in the true-life story "Boys Don't Cry." "I was inspired by the screenplay and moved by its humanity. As the students' diaries transform from schoolwork into life preservers, Gruwell's commitment to them grows and affects her in ways she did not imagine.Ībout the FilmTwo-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank takes on the role of Erin Gruwell. Based on a true story, "Freedom Writers" is an inspirational tale and testimony to courage, hope and the human spirit's triumph over intolerance. After sharing their stories with one another, the students see their shared experience for the first time and open up to the idea that there are possibilities in life outside of making it to the age of eighteen. ![]() Knowing that every one of her students has a story to tell, Erin encourages them to keep a daily journal of their thoughts and experiences. She brings in music from the 'Hood, and literature from another kind of ghetto, The Diary of Anne Frank, and with these simple tools she opens her students' eyes to the experiences of those suffering intolerance throughout the world and the struggles of those outside their own communities. ![]() They spark a transformation in the classroom, compel them to listen and force her to take off her idealistic blinders and take in the kids' survival stories of their undeclared war on the streets. A racially motivated gang shooting witnessed by a Latina gang member in Erin's class, and an an ugly racial cartoon that Erin intercepts during class, become the most unwittingly dynamic teaching aids. Despite her students' obstinate refusal to participate during class, Erin tries various means to engage them on a daily basis.īut then ghetto reality steps in to focus the picture. On the surface, the only thing they share is their hatred for each other and the understanding that they are simply being warehoused in the educational system until they are old enough to disappear. Her class, a diverse group of racially charged teenagers from different walks of life - African Americans, Latinos, Asians, juvenile delinquents, gang members, and underprivileged students from poor neighborhoods - hope for nothing more than to make it through the day. Synopsis: Fresh-faced, idealistic twenty-three-year-old Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) is ready to take on the world as she steps inside Wilson High School for her first day of teaching. Freedom Writers Cast: Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. ![]()
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