Prepare to be moved. 'Classroom 4,' an Oscar-shortlisted documentary short, isn't just a film; it's a powerful experience that leaves viewers in tears, grappling with their own preconceived notions about crime, punishment, and the very nature of humanity. What makes this film so profoundly affecting? Let's delve into the heart of this remarkable story.
The film centers around Professor Reiko Hillyer, a dedicated educator at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. For over two decades, she's been shaping young minds, but it's a unique course she teaches outside the traditional campus setting that has garnered national attention. This course, and the documentary it inspired, takes place within the walls of the Columbia River Correctional Institution.
Imagine this: Inside the prison, Professor Hillyer leads a class comprised of 30 students. Fifteen are 'inside' students – the inmates themselves – and fifteen are undergraduate students from the 'outside' world. Together, they embark on a semester-long journey exploring the complex history of crime and punishment in the United States. And this is the part most people miss... it's not just about history; it's about connection, empathy, and challenging deeply ingrained biases.
Eden Wurmfeld, the film's director, has a personal connection to this story. She and Professor Hillyer were classmates back in 7th grade in New York City. Wurmfeld explains, 'I’ve been hearing about this program since [Reiko] started participating in it [in 2012]. It’s called the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. And it’s actually an international program where teachers of any discipline can take the training and offer classes.' She emphasizes that the film isn't just about the subject matter but about the transformative encounter between these two seemingly disparate groups. 'I think for me, the film is as much about the encounter between these two groups, these two unlikely groups — and they’re learning from each other and with each other — as it is a testament to the power of incredible teaching and the gift of that.'
The film opens with the first class session. Students arrange themselves in concentric circles, with the undergraduates facing the inmates. Professor Hillyer initiates icebreakers, asking students to complete sentences like 'You might be surprised to learn that I __' and 'The quality I value most in a friend is __.' These simple prompts begin to dissolve the initial barriers and anxieties.
And in a sense, that icebreaker works on the audience too. Initially, the inmates might appear intimidating. One prisoner, Joey, even shares that he deliberately got tattoos while incarcerated to appear tougher as a form of self-protection. Wurmfeld acknowledges this initial unease, stating, 'I really wanted to be able to show the relationship between the two groups of students and how separate and how anxious, fearful everyone was at first, and how they grew to be a unified group of students studying history and learning from each other and with each other.'
Each Friday for 15 weeks, the class tackles topics that might seem purely academic to outsiders but resonate deeply with the 'insiders.' They discuss concepts like mercy and explore the 'myths and realities of prison life.' As the semester progresses, the film delves into the personal stories of the incarcerated men, revealing histories of childhood abuse, drug addiction, and the circumstances that led to their imprisonment. This is where empathy truly begins to blossom. The men in prison blues cease to be faceless criminals and emerge as individuals, as human beings worthy of understanding and compassion.
Wurmfeld emphasizes the importance of giving voice to the inmates: 'The voices of the men, to me, were so powerful and I really wanted to have as much real estate as possible for their voices.' She describes the film as a 'transformative ride,' admitting that it even shifted her own preconceived notions. 'I know that even if the film never reaches ‘outside the choir,’ if you will, of people who tend to watch documentaries — and that is a self-selecting group, and I’m definitely in that choir — that this shifted my own preconceived notions that maybe I didn’t even know I had.'
Edward Norton, a multiple Oscar nominee and executive producer of 'Classroom 4,' echoes this sentiment. 'The thing that kind of blew me away about the film was the degree to which it refuses to let you dehumanize anyone,' Norton explains. 'It insists that you see the complex humanity and even the shared empathy between people across these structural divides that we’ve created. And to me, ultimately, it’s so hopeful. It reminds you that we shouldn’t give up on the hope of finding commonality between people… I haven’t watched it with anybody who wasn’t pretty much moved to tears by it.'
Norton continues, 'It’s a weird phrase, but to me, it made me almost grieve. I think part of why it’s emotional is because you’re grieving for all this lost potential in people and you grieve for the whole society and the way that we’re missing the opportunity in so many ways to connect with each other. I think maybe the thing I think is the most valuable about [the film] is that it has an actual catalytic effect. When you watch it, I think you end up saying to yourself, ‘What opportunities am I missing to be empathetic?’ Here’s this professor, she’s taken her work in American history and she’s turned it into an opportunity to liberate people and open them up and make them think deeper, feel deeper. And it does make you look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Am I looking at people reductively and shutting them out? How can I be opening myself up and seeing people?’'
Professor Hillyer herself admits in a voiceover interview that she often cries at least once during each class. Her ability to see potential in individuals often dismissed by society may be seen as controversial in today's world. But here's where it gets controversial... is compassion truly a weakness, or is it a form of resistance against a culture that often prioritizes cruelty?
Wurmfeld addresses this directly: 'We’re living in a time where often compassion is seen as a weakness. And one of the things that I really value about what the film became is that it underscores that empathy can be resistance. And I just believe in that so deeply, and it’s the way I want to carry myself in the world and the way I want to engage. And it does make living in these times maybe all that much harder, but I’m certainly not giving up on it.'
'Classroom 4' is available to watch for free on the PBS website. Norton praises the film's ability to achieve one of cinema's core goals – fostering empathy and shared humanity – in under 40 minutes. 'I think the greatest aspiration in film is always to create a feeling of empathy and shared humanity between an audience and each other,' he says. 'It’s almost like to bind people together or make people feel their common humanity in one way or another.'
Now, we want to hear from you. After learning about 'Classroom 4,' do you agree that empathy can be a form of resistance? Has this film challenged your own preconceived notions about the incarcerated? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
