If You Can Make It Here

If You Can Make It Here

★ 0.0IMDb Score
Released:2026-07-10
Duration:59 min
Director:Jaclyn Boudreau, Joseph Kast
Actors:Wai Wah Chin, Michael Benjamin, Freddie DeBoer, John McWhorter, Lisa Greenwald
Production:Pacific Legal Foundation

Overview:

Kingsley, Kevin, and Hailey are three ambitious eighth graders preparing for a single exam that could determine their futures. They’re competing for admission to New York City’s Specialized High Schools, elite public institutions that have produced Nobel Prize laureates, astronauts, judges, artists, and national leaders. But as the kids await their test results, a citywide battle is raging over who should attend these schools—the kids who score highest on the entrance exam or the kids who improve diversity. Featuring interviews with kids, parents, and education leaders, If You Can Make It Here places young students at the center of a high-stakes cultural conflict over the future of equity and excellence in public education.

Recommendations for you

More than a Game
★7.3

More than a Game

This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James' journey to fame.

This Changes Everything
★6.2

This Changes Everything

An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry.

High School
★7.2

High School

What really happens inside the walls of an American high school? Famed documentarian Frederick Wiseman answers that question in this peek inside Philadelphia's Northeast High School, where students constantly clash with teachers, and teachers wage their own battle against the administration. Delving into the everyday struggle teachers face to discipline their unruly charges, the audience is offered a glimpse into the highs and lows at an urban public school.

The Red Pill
★7.5

The Red Pill

When a feminist filmmaker sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs. Chronicling Cassie Jaye’s journey exploring an alternate perspective on gender equality, power and privilege.

Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream
★7.8

Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream

Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows Beyoncé from intimate moments of her pregnancy to behind the scenes and rehearsals of the main concerts of that time.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon
★6.6

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.

Girl Rising
★7.0

Girl Rising

Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.

Love, Marilyn
★6.5

Love, Marilyn

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Looking for Richard
★6.8

Looking for Richard

Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."

The Irishman: In Conversation
★7.5

The Irishman: In Conversation

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.

Deepsea Challenge 3D
★6.6

Deepsea Challenge 3D

Described as being a film about determination, danger and the ocean’s greatest depths, James Cameron's "Deepsea Challenge 3D" tells the story of Cameron’s journey to fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming an explorer. The movie offers a unique insight into Cameron's world as he makes that dream reality – and makes history – by becoming the first person to travel solo to the deepest point on the planet.

Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red
★6.8

Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red

A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.

The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends
★7.1

The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends

This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.

RBG
★7.5

RBG

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all citizens under the law. Through intimate interviews and unprecedented access to Ginsburg’s life outside the court, RBG tells the electric story of Ginsburg’s consuming love affairs with both the Constitution and her beloved husband Marty—and of a life’s work that led her to become an icon of justice in the highest court in the land.

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
★6.4

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

I Am Heath Ledger
★7.4

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

Cameraperson
★6.7

Cameraperson

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.

Western Stars
★7.0

Western Stars

The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen himself.

56 Up
★7.2

56 Up

When a cross-section of seven-year-olds were interviewed for 7 Up in 1964 it was immediately evident that their social backgrounds influenced their attitudes towards life. While the upper class children were confident and self-assured, those from middle and working class backgrounds were resigned to a challenging life of hard work. This premise was put to the test every seven years when the same group were interviewed about the progression of their lives. 49 years in the making, the changes that occurred to the original 14 make for fascinating television and are in many ways the stories of all our lives. From success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, to poverty and illness, nearly every facet of life has been captured on film. Now, at the age of 56, the group are once more brought together and, with the benefit of hindsight, assess whether their lives have been ruled by circumstance or self-determination.

Heart of a Dog
★6.5

Heart of a Dog

Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.