This piece was released in late 1999 and has been garnering rave reviews at film festivals throughout the world. It was shown on Boston public television, WGBH, in June, 2000, and broadcast on June 24, 2001 by WNET, public television in New York City.
The documentary has been purchased by dozens of high schools and other organizations around the country, including the following prestigious institutions:
| The University of Indiana Library | The University of Virginia |
| The University of Washington Library | The St. Louis Public Library |
| The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Film Festival | The University of Maine |
| Amherst College | The University of Michigan |
| Northwestern University | The American Psychiatric Association |
Here is what educators, community leaders, and reviewers are saying about this important film:
- I found (Looking for Common Ground) to be an excellent piece of work. I was particularly impressed by the way Julie let the protagonists from both sides speak for themselves, without heavy editing or intrusive narration. The net result is a tone of civility and respectfulness that is too often lacking in media coverage of this controversial issue.
James Peyser,
Chairman of the Board of Education,
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- I think Looking for Common Ground is a wonderful educational tool precisely because it is honest in depicting different attitudes towards homosexuality.
Howard Zinn,
Author and historian
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The film should be a useful resource for others. Surely it can be a powerful awareness
tool for administrators or district school committees that are grappling with moral,
church-state, diversity, or human rights issues. But it also has potential for provoking discussion
on any difficult topic and for guiding organizations in coping with, mediating and responding
to widely differing views.
Looking for Common Ground offers a remarkable glimpse of a school in turmoil while respectfully conveying the deep beliefs, genuine feelings, and powerful ideals of student, board members, and the community at large during a difficult period in our school's history.
William G. Erickson,
Superintendent
Hampshire Regional School District
- Looking for Common Ground is an extremely effective presentation of the highly volatile issue of programming for gay and lesbian youth in the public schools. Even after years of immersion in these issues, I learned something from this surprisingly calm documentary. Looking for Common Ground gives us both the information and opinions from each perspective by allowing advocates of each side as well as those in between to speak for themselves, providing teachers and community group leaders with an outstanding tool to promote serious discussion of an issue that usually produces more heat than light.
Arlene Voski Avakian, Associate Professor
Women's Studies
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Looking for Common Ground is an honest documentary that brings to light the diverse
opinions of a common grappling with an issue of justice. Akeret has done a marvelous job in
capturing the barriers and possibilities in creating a more respectful and tolerant society.
Looking for Common Ground is a 30-minute journey that will move any viewer to a deeper understanding of the challenges of justice.
Kathleen O'Neill Alexander
Director of Education and Outreach
Massachusetts District Attorney, Northwestern District
- Looking for Common Ground is an accurate and evenhanded account of one community's struggle to find a common understanding concerning the role of the school in shaping students' values and behavior. With clarity and candor, it examines the difficult task of reconciling opposing convictions, deeply held, about the nature of homosexuality. It deftly and accurately sets forth the essential differences among religious communities, never losing sight of the human costs as the debate rages. It stimulated thoughtful and transformative discussion in our church.