In
his influential memoir Summerhill,
A.S. Neill offers up more dubious snap diagnoses than a full season of Dr.
Phil, but it is a weirdly compelling snapshot of the early days of the radical
education movement. The last place you would expect his egalitarian
no-rules-schools concept to catch on would be the Thai rainforest, but Rajani
Dongchai, a.k.a. “Mother Aew,” has taught and sheltered under-privileged children
for thirty-five years in her Children’s Village, a Summerhill-inspired
school-nursery-orphanage in the rugged Kanchanaburi jungle. The students and
faculty plan to give Mother Aew a fitting 35th Mother’s Day
celebration in Marvin Blunte’s 6 Weeks to
Mother’s Day (trailer
here), which
screens during DOC NYC 2017.
Thai
Mother’s Day is in August, but the principle remains the same. For most of the
residents of Children’s Village, Mother Aew is the closest thing to a mom they
have ever known. She has sacrificed much for them, essentially conducting a
long-distance relationship with her husband, who assumed direct oversight responsibility
for the nursery several miles away, while she oversees primary and secondary
education at their core facilities.
Mother
Aew is always willing to offer advice (fortunately), but policies are set by
the children themselves in town hall-style meetings that look like a cross
between French Revolutionary Tribunals and the kiddie gangster musical, Bugsy Malone. Fortunately, Mother Aew
convinces them not to punish littering with thumb-screws and the rack, but to
settle for some quick water-boarding instead.
In
all seriousness, Children’s Village might sound a little hippy-dippy, but it
looks like a sheltering environment, which is what most of the residents
desperately need. If she can provide safety, stability, and some degree of
education, she and her husband have made a considerable difference in many
lives. Clearly, Blunte takes an almost evangelical interest in Mother Aew and
her kids, capturing them in all their earnest compassion and progressiveness,
in the hope of generating Western grant money, which is a totally worthy goal.
Blunte
gives viewers a tactile feel for life in the Kanchanaburi school compound.
Mother Aew and many of her students are rather charismatic and the Mother’s Day
tribute skit they stage is surprisingly funny. It is not exactly a documentary
classic, but it is a very nice film. (Still, when it comes to stories of educational
heroics, it remains tough to beat Journey from Zanskar). Recommended for A.S. Neill disciples and fans of uplifting
docs, 6 Weeks to Mother’s Day screens
tomorrow (11/16), as part of this year’s DOC NYC.
