synopsis

I AM A PROMISE is a documentary portrait of children growing up outside the American dream where hope for their future survives in their education. At Stanton Elementary School in North Philadelphia, a troubled inner-city neighborhood, 90% of the students live below the poverty line and come from single-parent homes. The school has 725 African-American pupils, from Head Start through the fifth grade, who attempt with varying degrees of success to defy poverty in a neighborhood blighted with crack houses and violence in order to receive the most basic education. Their fears, anger and isolation as well as dreams and joys come through poignantly as this cinema verite film allows the children to speak for themselves.