American Teacher is a new documentary from The Teacher Salary Project. The film was produced and directed by Academy Award winner Vanessa Roth, and produced by local literary giant Dave Eggers:

Weaving interviews of policy experts and startling facts with the lives and careers of four teachers, our film, American Teacher, tells the collective story by and about those closest to the issues in our educational system — the 3.2 million teachers who spend every day in classrooms across the country. Through an interactive and evolving website and a feature-length documentary that brings together educational experts, student interviews, and a year of documenting the day-to-day lives and sacrifices of public school teachers, THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will bring an awareness to the real and imminent crisis in our educational system — how little we value our strongest, most committed, and most effective teachers, and the ripple effect this has on how our children learn and their potential for future success.

Local musician Thao Nguyen (of Thao with The Get Down Stay Down and Thao & Mirah) wrote the score for American Teacher, showing her “support of our country’s incredible teachers.”

It’s also worth noting that the documentary is narrated by Matt Damon, who has proven to be a strong advocate for education reform.

A series of American Teacher screenings will bring the film to the Roxie Theater from October 7th to October 13th. Until then, get a glimpse of the film and Thao’s score via the official American Teacher trailer: