The Learning

The Learning
premieres Sept. 20, 2011 on POV

Read what critics have to say about The Learning, the story of four Filipina women who reluctantly leave their families and schools to teach in Baltimore city…

“An illuminating, absorbing documentary… Diaz’s heroines become the unforgettable faces of a story all the more shocking for being so little-known.”
— Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

The Learning is like no other teaching film — it sensitizes you in fresh and unexpected ways to the transactions between instructors and students.”
— Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun

“Each of the four teachers has a unique story to tell, a reason the distance between home and work is so daunting, and watching each slowly unfold is the documentary’s greatest strength.”
— Michael Gaynor, Washingtonian

“Few real-life narratives can be more involving or inspiring than a teacher’s impact on students… Packed to the gills with human interest, [a] thoroughly engaging documentary. The Learning offers potent uplift on several fronts — not least for reminding that few things are more valuable, yet undervalued, than a truly devoted schoolteacher.”
— Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Ramona S. Diaz aims to reveal a different side of the immigrant’s face in her new documentary.”
— Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican

“POV’s The Learning tells a surprising tale of immigration, globalization and America’s shifting position in the 21st century.”
Asian Journal

“No one understands the immigrant experience better than Diaz.”
— Jane Marion, Baltimore Magazine

“With a largely vérité approach, Diaz does an exceptional job in contrasting the experiences of her subjects between their two cultures, and of showing the benefits, and the costs, of their experience.”
— Basil Tsiokos, What (Not) to Doc.com

Published by

POV Staff
POV (a cinema term for "point of view") is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 400 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.