Epiphany in Progress... The Film

When Michal Goldman and Eli Chapman started Epiphany in Progress in the fall of 1998 they had no idea what to expect. The school was new; the teachers were idealistic, and the students were two years behind their suburban counterparts.

Goldman had heard about Epiphany four days before the school was to open its doors for the first time. She raced to get permission from the school to film and to find a cinematographer who could film on such short notice. After filming the school's first day with cinematographer Michael Underwood, she spent a month observing the school to decide whether to commit a year to watching it take shape. The answer was yes.

She then teamed up with Eli Chapman. Michal is an experienced documentary filmmaker, while Eli was a recent graduate of film school. They filmed at the school on average twice a week. Eli shot and Michal took sound.

The decision to use a mini-DV camera allowed Goldman to start work cheaply, without initial funding. It also allowed the filmmakers to shoot in a cinema verité, handheld style, moving quickly and capturing events as they unfolded in real time. This approach suited the film's underlying themes of process and inquiry.

Over the course of the academic year Goldman and Chapman shot 175 hours of footage from which Goldman and two assistants edited a one-hour documentary for public television.

Making this kind of film isnt easy. Special thanks are due to the staff, students and parents of the Epiphany School for their openness and patience.

Making the film | About the film crew | Film credits

Feature version | Epiphany School | Epiphany's first year | Epiphany School now |