The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival has given SLO Review the opportunity to preview some of the narrative and documentary films on the festival’s April 24-29, 2025 program schedule. Follow the links to purchase tickets to see these notable films for yourself.
National Level Competition
I know the world of competitive Speech & Debate, having lived it for more than 20 years—at the high school level, on the grueling college circuit, and later as a coach and judge.
There is no denying that participation in forensics shaped the first act of my life. Name a small speck-of-a-town in the Midwest and I probably was there for a weekend at some point: Emporia (Kansas), Whitewater (Wisconsin), or Wooster (Ohio). These tournaments also took me from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis to UCLA. A lot of miles. A lot of memories.
I did OK, not spectacular, but I managed to find my voice in Speech & Debate and parlayed years of public speaking experience into a respectable run as a radio broadcaster.
I’m in good company, according to the new documentary Speak, which screens at the upcoming San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Famous people with roots in Speech & Debate include Brad Pitt, Oprah, Stephen Colbert, Sonia Sotomayor, Adam Sandler, Paul Rudd, Bruce Springsteen(!), and Elizabeth Warren.
Here are young people speaking out on the issues of the day, each one of them likely a future leader in some field.”
The forensics world has undoubtedly changed over the decades, but the competition and the passion apparently remain, judging by Speak, which chronicles five high school students competing for the national championship in Original Oratory.
There’s Esther, who is aiming to defend her national title and go for three championships in a row; Noah, the San Antonio senior speaking about his mother’s suicide; Sam, who is wrestling with his sexuality and literally trying to find his voice; Noor, who is inspired to speak about disability rights because of her younger brother; and Mfas, a Muslim Sudanese-American, who draws power from the simple pleasure of watching Sesame Street.
Co-Directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman allow Speak to unfold over the course of a single season—starting with the five students workshopping their speeches in the fall, participating in a variety of tournaments, and concluding with the national tournament in Des Moines that spring.
Watching this documentary, which screened in competition last January at Sundance, brought back a lot of memories for me, but it also made me recall the dedication, the work, needed to reach the national level in any competition. Here are young people speaking out on the issues of the day, each one of them likely a future leader in some field.
You end up caring about these five young people as their individual stories are revealed.”
The pressure is certainly on display when one contestant frets that his speech came in as too long and he faces possible disqualification. Another speaker makes back-to-back mistakes, getting lost in the speech, and is soon overheard crying in the hallway afterwards. Those moments are all too real.
You end up caring about these five young people as their individual stories are revealed. Speak may not be of interest to folks who don’t have that competitive background in forensics, and the ending seems a foregone conclusion almost from the beginning.
But as someone who lived that life, I can honestly say that Speak—well, it spoke to me. Several documentaries and feature films (Listen to Me or Rocket Science) have tried to capture this crazy world over the years, but they’ve mostly come up short.
Not this one. Tiexiera and Mossman understand what these five young orators are going through. They wisely get out of the way and let the students speak for themselves. Smart move. Good film.
Editor’s Note: Screenings of Speak (USA, run time 103 minutes, not rated, in English) at the SLO International Film Festival are sponsored by Mona and Gordon Jennings.