Kiet Engels is the kind of teacher one wishes every schoolchild could have. She is strict but never harsh. She is loving but never soft. Her patience in endless.

Many of Miss Kiet's pupils are refugees who have just arrived in Holland. Haya is at first impetuous, yet fearful. Little by little, Miss Kiet helps her to find her friendly side. Leanne is quiet and lonely. But after a few months she able to tell everyone in Dutch that she loves Branche. Jorj has trouble sleeping and is unruly. His little brother Maksim has terrible nightmares. Miss Kiet's tenacity helps Jorj discover that learning can be worthwhile and even fun.

By observation alone, without interviews or voice-over, the film focuses on four refugee children of different nationalities. Pursuing their perspective, the camera closely follows their struggle to learn a new language, their fights, their friendships and their first loves.

By the end of the documentary, an affectionate community has grown—the fruit of a teacher's patience and dedication. A film of many touching moments, some of them hilarious, MISS KIET'S CHILDREN chronicles changes that are small yet at the same time immense.

"Veteran duo Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster deliver a master class in nonfiction filmmaking with MISS KIET'S CHILDREN, one of the year's truly outstanding European documentaries... The result is a lovely, upbeat, even life-affirming film."—The Hollywood Reporter

"Heartening, raucous, tender...sometimes tearful, and ultimately a vital public good. Invites us to regard something extraordinary.” – Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

"[4 stars] This entirely engrossing, tender and shrewdly observed documentary is the study of a special infant school class in the Netherlands, which is set aside for the children of migrants and refugees—largely from Syria... A lovely film."—The Guardian

THU FEB 22 | 7:30pm |$10, $7 MEMBERS (+$3 at the door)