Breaking the Bee, a documentary on the rise and dominance of Indian-Americans in spelling bee competitions, will be making film festival rounds this month.
The documentary, which follows four second-generation Indian-Americans aged seven to 14 as they train for the competition, will be shown on April 8 at the Cleveland International Film Festival, and on May 12 at the New York Indian Film Festival in New York City.
The documentary will give viewers and insight into the family life of four Indian-American kids as they start their spelling careers. It also offers commentary from CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Fareed Zakaria, comedian Hari Kondabolu, ESPN's Kevin Negandhi, and past Scripps winners.
The four spelling champions featured in the documentary are Akash, the second-youngest participant ever to reach the Scripps National Spelling Bee as a 6-year-old in 2016; Ashrita, who improved from 7th to 3rd to 2nd place in her regional spelling bee over the last three years; Shourav, who has won both the North South Foundation Spelling Bee and the South Asian Spelling Bee; and Tejas, who has been spelling since 1st grade.
The film is directed by Sam Rega and produced by Chris Weller, former Business Insider employees.
Will this trend of Indian Americans dominating the spelling bee competitions last forever? "The truth is, we're in the golden age of spelling. Every expert we've talked to believes this trend won't last forever, and that it's critical we capture this special moment in history," the director believes.
Since 1999, all but four contest winners have been Indian American, and many feel one major factor of Indian Americans' spelling dominance is cultural. To escape the disadvantages that often accompany an immigrant, Indian Americans invest heavily on education.
According to a report on Fatherly.com, more than one-third of Indian Americans have post-graduate degrees and another third have at least a college degree.
