Media Mondays are back. There is so much interesting and important creative work in film, books, podcasting, and other media related to alternative education these days, we’d like to highlight it for our Alt Ed Austin community. One project that is uplifting and inspiring us at the moment is a documentary film called 6 Weeks to Mother’s Day by Marvin Blunte, currently available to stream on Amazon Prime and Kanopy.

The title doesn’t reveal the fact that the film documents a radical approach to education—a progressive, loving school in rural Thailand. The “mother” in “Mother’s Day” is the school’s founder, Rajani Dhongchai, known as Mother Aew.

Moo Baan Dek, often called Children’s Village School, has been around for more than 35 years and is run on a democratic model, inspired by the Summerhill School in England combined with Buddhist teachings. They grow much of their own food, use solar energy, and have few modern amenities.

Most of the students Mother Aew and her staff nurture are poor, many are orphans, and about half have emotional, physical, or learning challenges. They study subjects they choose for themselves and make decisions in an all-school student council. They are able to pursue academics and practical skills that will enable them to live full and independent lives. In one especially powerful scene, Mother Aew offers warm, respectful acknowledgment of a student’s decision to transition from living as a boy to a girl. The school receives some support from the government but is sustained primarily by contributions.

The students are in tremendous need right now as a result of the pandemic. Even small contributions are tremendously helpful. Marvin let us know that he is still in contact with Mother Aew, and she’s always excited when a contribution comes in from outside the country and puts it directly to work providing food, clothing, books, and other materials for the kids. You can find information about the school here, which includes a page for donations.

I had the opportunity to talk with filmmaker Marvin Blunte while he was staying safe at his parents’ home in New York state a few weeks ago. What follows is an edited version of our conversation.

The film is a fascinating look into a beautiful community of kids and educators—and inspiring! One of the interesting choices you made was to have no narrator and no explanations of what is happening. Viewers are just immersed in the day-to-day life of the school. Could you talk about why you made that decision?

I’ve always been a fan of observational style filmmaking. The work of a French director named Nicolas Philibert is one of my models. He made a film called To Be and to Have, about a little rural school in France in 2002. When I was trying to come up with how to approach Mother Aew’s school, I went through a variety of options, including having a host or narrator to explain the place.

But if you look at a lot of films about other cultures and countries coming from the West, they’re often skewed with the filmmaker’s opinions. I didn’t want that. I wanted to present exactly what the school is like, and when the teachers and students saw the film, they seemed to think it was successful in that. They were initially worried about what I was going to film, and I warned them that it was my right as an artist to tell the story as I saw fit. But in the end they were thrilled.

I understand you kind of stumbled upon the school while working on another project. What inspired you to go back multiple times to make the film?

At first I didn’t understand anything because almost no one spoke English. I didn’t understand what was happening or how the school worked. One of the kids kept following me as I was walking around taking photos on my first trip. I kept trying to shoo the kid away, and I indicated to one of the teachers who spoke a little English that I was sorry about this student following me and not being in class. She said, “He’s following you because he’s interested in what you’re doing. Is he bothering you?” I said he wasn’t, and then she told me this is part of the democratic school process. He was learning what he wanted to learn.

I left the next day to go to Cambodia to cover another story, but the school kept spinning in my head. The kids were in charge! They showed me around, served me my food, seemed to take full responsibility for me and, later, when I returned, for my crew. I went back for a short time to teach photography, so they could get to know me. I didn’t want to be a novelty—I wanted to become invisible while I filmed.

When you were filming, did you live within the community or go in and out?

We stayed in a traditional Thai home on the outskirts of the village. Part of the philosophy is that the students need to learn to farm and take care of themselves as survival skills for when they leave. I think you could put them anywhere and they would survive. But they do have some electricity that they generate so that they can have a computer lab—and so I could charge my cameras!

Beyond the portrait you show us in the film, what else would you like people to know about the school?

Well, I would encourage people to take a look at the school’s Facebook page for updates. I left some cameras with the students who were interested in photography last time I was there, and they’ve taken to social media.

Now, with the pandemic, they’re unable to get many donations and aren’t able to pay their teachers. You see in the film that a huge part of Thai culture is giving—the students themselves are taught to be generous as part of their Buddhist training. Unfortunately, it’s become almost impossible for others to give to them, but Mother Aew has created a project where the students are making face masks for the surrounding communities to protect people from the virus. That generous aspect of the culture is something I wanted to show people through the film.

6 Weeks to Mother’s Day is currently available on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, and Kanopy.
Être et Avoir (To Be and To Have) is also streaming on Kanopy.

Shelley Sperry | Sperry Editorial