Spelling the Dream

The largest spelling competition in the United States is the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Since 1999 the great majority of its winners have been Indian American. Eighteen of the last twenty two contests were won by these children. The documentary looks into the reason for that pattern. It does so by following four contestants, aged between seven and fourteen. The camera stays with the preparation, the families and the contest itself. The film does not reduce this to a display of achievement; it shows the work and the expectation behind it. Jacques Bailly, one of the officials of the contest, appears in it. Sam Rega’s American documentary, eighty two minutes long, was completed in 2020.