Pressure Cooker by Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman

Throughout an entire school year, co-directors Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker put their cameras in (and around) Mrs. Stephenson’s classroom at Frankford, a public high school in a deprived urban area of Philadelphia. In room 325 they observe how she trains her students for a cooking competition, in order to win scholarships to prestigious culinary art institutions.

Our compassion initially goes to the pupils, not to the teacher, who bears quite a resemblance to Gordon Ramsey. But along the way you start realising you got it all wrong. Although being incredibly demanding, tough, annoying and meddlesome, it becomes clear that she’s also a driven, fascinating person with a heart of gold. For many of these kids (who seem to have fractured families and difficult childhoods in common) she’s a teacher, surrogate mother, social worker and friend all in one. The focus is on three of her ambitious - and very photogenic - pupils whose shared goal is to win those scholarships in order to leave town as soon as possible.

If they withstand the strong disciplinary demands, the chances of a better future are high. On the first day Mrs. Stephenson proudly announces a dazzling amount of money that last year’s class earned in scholarships. Actually, the filmmakers tracked her down because of her success. As a founder of the non-profit organisation behind the cooking competition, Jennifer Grausman’s father would bring home inspiring stories about this notorious teacher from Philadelphia. Somehow each year her students snared a major share of the scholarships, excelling either in being well-prepared or writing highly moving personal application essays.

Here’s a documentary that definitely can be labelled ‘feel-good’; a subgenre we somehow hardly ever see on the festival circuit.

Gerdien Smit