Harlem School 1970

Filmed in the Spring of 1970 but never commercially released, this documentary reveals a day in the life of Community School 30, a newly-opened primary school serving inner-city children in Harlem, New York. Harlem School 1970 focuses on kindergarten through 4th Grade students (ages 5-10), observing the interactions of teachers, faculty, parents, and employees. What unfolds is a historic journey back in time, viewing and listening to a variety of daily structured activities: the rhymes and songs that children sing, their games, colloquial language, conflicts, and the repetitive routines of class time, lunch, and recess. Independently produced by director/cinematographer/editor Phil Gries in the “Direct Cinema” style (reminiscent of the Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, and Frederick Wiseman), Harlem School 1970 is a peerless time capsule in which inner city children interact with adults and their classmates, during an uncertain and challenging time in their lives. 2K Restoration completed in 2026 by Ben Wolf in collaboration with Phil Gries, Gries Cinema Productions.