Art for Teachers of Children

  • 82'
  • USA
  • 1995
In the feature Art for Teachers of Children, director Jennifer Montgomery provides a very autobiographically-coloured report of a relationship she had as a minor with her teacher. A very personal film in which it becomes clear that she felt an inner urge to make this film. Fourteen-year-old Jennifer is at a boarding school in the northern USA in the mid-seventies. She falls in love with her teacher John, a married young man with an interest in art photography. Both are embarrassed by the attraction between them. Jennifer is sulky and passive, but at a certain moment she offers to pose topless for a photograph. Not much later she announces her willingness to lose her virginity. John, described by Jennifer as an 'aristocratic hippie', turns out to be more of an inexperienced opportunist than a beast of prey and eagerly takes her up on both offers, talking incessantly about art and literature. Their affair is eventually found out, bringing John's marriage and career to an end. When he moves to Newport Jennifer occasionally visits him in the weekend and their relationship and the photo sessions carry on. Then the film jumps to the late eighties, when the John is prosecuted by the FBI for making child pornography, a case that was widely publicised. Jennifer feels the need to defend him and rejects the stereotypes on this subject.
Director
Jennifer Montgomery
Country of production
USA
Year
1995
Festival Edition
IFFR 1996
Length
82'
Medium
16mm
Language
English
Producer
Jennifer Montgomery
Sales
Jennifer Montgomery
Screenplay
Jennifer Montgomery
Cinematography
Jennifer Montgomery
Editor
Jennifer Montgomery
Sound Design
Crosby McCloy
Director
Jennifer Montgomery
Country of production
USA
Year
1995
Festival Edition
IFFR 1996
Length
82'
Medium
16mm
Language
English
Producer
Jennifer Montgomery
Sales
Jennifer Montgomery
Screenplay
Jennifer Montgomery
Cinematography
Jennifer Montgomery
Editor
Jennifer Montgomery
Sound Design
Crosby McCloy