italianredneckgirl I homeschool my 12 year old daughter. We are eclectic in our curriculum. My daughter is on a grade level with Sophomore students. This film opened our eyes to the struggle happening in Kenya while the British were fighting over land. This is a great follow up movie to The Good Lie. Although completely different storyline, there is a familiarity and almost mirroring between the two films. This story follows Maruge, an 84 year old gentleman who was part of the Mau Mau tribe and taken into custody after his family was brutally murdered before his eyes. Maruge never received an education, as was true for the majority of adults during this time period. The First Grader follows Maruge's struggle to receive an education and learn to read well after his release from the detainee/work camp in 1963. Maruge appeals to adult and teenaged viewers. He is a classic underdog. He is worth rooting for. Jane Obinchu is the primary school teacher in this remote location in Kenya. She's instantly likable. The viewer feels her pull to help Maruge despite her husband's insistence that it will be nothing but trouble. Jane is engaging, endearing, and in the end, a classic heroine. I would recommend this movie to open up lines of communication between yourself and your child. To expose them to real people during a real event that could easily be used as a 'Torchlighters" series. Follow it up or set it up with The Good Lie. Both well done. Both deserving of an audience.

Mike B This is a wonderful and inspiring film. It's about a teacher and an eighty year old pupil who wants to learn to read who has never had a formal education. It's also about history, Africa, colonialism – it takes in a lot of diverse topics and it does it all rather well. It's not one of these syrupy films where all the villagers unite behind the teacher and her new elder pupil – in fact the opposite happens.The film has a distinctive African authenticity – the classroom, the village, the different tribal groupings... One only wishes there could be more films like this instead of the vapid drivel that we are being constantly offered (such as fantasy action films...)

Anne Price This is a very moving account of actual events that took place 2003-2005, with a little poetic license in the retelling. The principle actors are brilliant, but some of the other characters are a little overdrawn. However, I think this kind of caricature may be derived from Kenyan culture.I thoroughly enjoyed the character development as well as the pacing of the story. It is also set in dramatic Kenyan landscapes which are enthralling. Having visited Kenya briefly in 2006, this brought back a lot of good memories of the country and the people. The smiles of the children you see amid the poverty is exactly how I remember it. As others have said, it isn't a movie for children, but should be on the "to watch" list for adolescents and adults.

Linent First, let me say this was a very engrossing tale. It's very difficult not to be sympathetic to the lead character, an 84-year old man who wants a basic education. But my antenna went up about 1/4 of the way into the movie when they start exploring the main characters Mau-Mau past. Wasn't Barak Obama's grandfather a Mau-Mau? Why yes! I believe he was! Then about 3/4 of the way through the movie my BS alert went into overdrive when one of the "extras" excitedly mentions Michelle Obama. And I finally realized, at the end, when another tangential character (stolen from the movie "Vanishing Point; Cleavon Little's "Super Soul") asks, "What's next? A black man in the White House?" Remember -- this movie was made two full years after there WAS a black man in the White House. So there was no predicting here; just celebrating. And the point of the movie? You be the judge. But I'm guessing it was a lot less about the on-screen story than the selling of an off-screen one. Just my opinion, of course. Just remember, the movie was a production of the propaganda department - the BBC - of a socialist government.