Inspiring Kiwi doco proves education is the silver bullet
In the Zone (E, 115 mins) Directed by Robyn Paterson Reviewed by Graeme Tuckett ★★★★
When he was a child growing up in the roughest neighbourhoods in Chicago, Terrance Wallace was abducted by a local gang. He was forced to his knees, told he was going to die, had a gun put to his head and the trigger was pulled.
The gun failed to fire. The gang tried again, with a different gun. It also wouldn’t fire.
A while later, Wallace won a ballot to attend a better-resourced and managed high school than the one he would otherwise have gone to.
He credits those breaks with making him the man he is today – a successful business leader with an overwhelming gratitude for his own good fortune and drive to give as much back to the community as he can.
Wallace came to New Zealand a few years ago. And, while like every tourist he was struck by the beauty of the place, he also noticed that in New Zealand, just as in the United States, poverty and disempowerment often wear a brown skin.
In The Zone is the story of what Wallace did next, in New Zealand and in Chicago. And it is a little ripper.
If, like me, you believe that access to a great education system truly is the magic bullet for almost all of society’s ills, then you will love this.
And if you don’t get that yet, then this is the film to convince you. I am just amazed that the story of the InZone Project and foundation isn’t world famous in New Zealand yet. It truly deserves to be.