Cleveland International Film Festival } March 25 – April 5, 2020 } Tower City Cinemas

Fail State

Year: 2017
Country: USA
Run Time: 94 minutes

Produced by news icon Dan Rather, FAIL STATE examines the rise of for-profit colleges in America and how politicians and shady businessmen tarnished our higher education system. It also looks at the mountain of student debt that makes it hard for graduates to succeed in their post-college lives. Interviews with former students from predatory institutions such as DeVry, Westwood, Kaplan, and the now-defunct ITT discuss their far from stellar experiences. It’s truly heartbreaking to hear how their lives were negatively affected by these college scams. The documentary provides a timeline of government involvement in higher education, dating back to the 1970s. A series of misguided—or more appropriately, unscrupulous—regulations and legislation play a huge role in where we’ve ended up. Looking towards the future, director Alexander Shebanow spotlights innovative solutions, such as Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam’s proposal to make community colleges free for everyone. If we want to secure a future for the next generation, we must change the way colleges are run. This realization is at the forefront of FAIL STATE. Consider it your crash course on the college-cost calamity. —E.F.

CIFF42 Screenings

Tower City Cinemas

Thursday, April 05, 2018 at 2:05 PM

Saturday, April 07, 2018 at 4:10 PM

Sunday, April 08, 2018 at 11:10 AM

with FilmForum

Competition
Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Competition

Director
Alexander Shebanow

Alexander Shebanow is a director, producer, and writer who started his career making documentaries about nonprofit organizations around the San Francisco Bay Area. Shebanow attended Foothill Community College before finishing his studies at the University of Southern California.

Filmography
FAIL STATE (2017)

Producers
Dan Rather, Alexander Shebanow, Julia Glausi, Terrence Crawford, Tyler Comes, Adam Bolt, Alan Oxman

Screenwriting
Alexander Shebanow, Regina Sobel, Nicholas Adams

Cinematography
Joel Kingsbury, Michael Swaigen, Oren Soffer, Alexander Shebanow, Alex Hufschmid

Editing
Regina Sobel

Print Source

SDCF LLC

team@failstatemovie.com

http://failstatemovie.com

Questions? >

Questions?

Check out our FAQs for answers to common questions about entering the film festival.

Become A CIFF Member >

Become A CIFF Member

We have seven different levels of membership to choose from, so find the one that best fits your film appetite!

Please log in.

Call For Entries

2019 Festival

Plan Your Day

CIFF Media

Archive

Become a Member

Support CIFF - Donate

Questions?

CIFF44 Media Accreditation

Fail State

CIFF42 Screenings