directed by David Osborne
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana embarked on a total reinvention of New Orleans’ failing school system. Over the next decade, city and state leaders gradually converted the city’s public schools into charter schools, independent of district bureaucracy but accountable for their performance. They allowed families to choose almost any public school in the city.
When students thrived, leaders encouraged the school to expand and replicate; when students fell further behind grade level every year, leaders replaced the operator with a more successful charter network. The results—the most rapid academic improvement in the country—offer powerful lessons for struggling school systems across this country.
Screenings and Events
Stream TURNAROUND on Kinema or watch it on the big screen - our film festival tour continues in 2026.
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Screening on November 20th, 11:30 AM at The Progressive Policy Institute (B1 Conference Center, 1919 M St., Washington DC, 20036)
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David Osborne joins Keri Rodrigues and Curtis Valentine on the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)’s Union podcast where David discusses the Turnaround documentary and lessons from New Orleans’ schools, plus updates on the shutdown’s impact on special education.
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Turnaround: Public School Choice and the Unlikely Story of New Orleans
Wednesday, October 22nd at 2:00 p.m. ET———
Join our Reinventing America's Schools Project for an hour-long virtual webinar on the story of how New Orleans reformed its education system after Hurricane Katrina through embracing public school choice and how it can impact urban education in America.
Tune in to learn from leading experts and practitioners on public education as they discuss the past, present, and future of education in New Orleans and its lessons for the country.
The webinar is part of a series co-sponsored by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) and The 74.
Our expert panelists include:David Osborne, Director, "Turnaround: Public School Choice and the Unlikely Story of New Orleans, The Documentary"
Leslie Jacobs, Founder of Educate Now
Jerel Bryant, CEO of Collegiate Academies
Moderator: Curtis Valentine, Director, Future Learning Network, PPI
Link to sign up. -
NOFF: World Premiere, Monday October 23rd at 7:45pm - The Broad Theater 4
Book a Screening
TURNAROUND is available for educational and community screenings, both virtual and in-person.
Please fill out the form below to request a screening.
Meet the Team
David Osborne
Director
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David Osborne is the author or co-author of six books on public sector reform, including the New York Times bestseller Reinventing Government (1992), Banishing Bureaucracy (1997), and Reinventing America’s Schools: Creating a 21 st Century Education System (2017). He has also authored numerous articles for the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the New York Times Magazine, Harpers, The New Republic, U.S. News, Governing, Education Week, and other publications.
In 1993, he served as a senior advisor to Vice President Al Gore, to help run what the Vice President often called his "reinventing government task force," the National Performance Review. He was the chief author of the NPR report, which laid out the Clinton Administration’s reinvention agenda, called by Time "the most readable federal document in memory." A long-time fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, David recently retired from his position at the Progressive Policy Institute. In February 2017 he published his first novel, The Coming, based on the life of explorer William Clark’s Nez Perce son. It won a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America as the best historical novel of the year.
Darcy McKinnon
Producer
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Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include A KING LIKE ME and ROLEPLAY (SXSW, 2024), COMMUTED (PBS, 2024), ALGIERS, AMERICA (Hulu, 2023), UNDER G-D (Sundance 2023), LOOK AT ME! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and THE NEUTRAL GROUND (Tribeca, POV, 2021). Current projects in production include Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’s THE FIRST PLANTATION, Abe Felix’s TURNAROUND, CJ Hunt’s UNLEARNED, Nicole Craine’s KINFOLK and Zac Manuel’s THE INSTRUMENT. McKinnon’s work has been seen on World Channel, AfroPop, POV, Reel South, LPB and Hulu and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, CPH:DOX and more. She is an alum of the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellowship and is a recipient of American Documentary’s Creative Visionary Award.
Abraham Felix
Producer
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Abraham Felix is a New Orleans-based film and commercial director whose work has found audiences through film festivals, television, and distribution platforms worldwide. His work explores the interconnectivity of love, violence, masculinity, and spirituality - especially in Black peoples and cultures.
His short form work highlighting Black student mental health for Boris L. Henson Foundation's Unspoken Curriculum was awarded two Clio Awards, a ONE SHOW award, a D&AD Award, a Young Director Award, and others in 2022. Additionally his short films Win By Two (2020) and Change (2020) garnered jury awards from the Houston Cinema Arts Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival respectively. is a New Orleans-based film and commercial director whose work has found audiences through film festivals, television, and distribution platforms worldwide. His work explores the interconnectivity of love, violence, masculinity, and spirituality - especially in Black peoples and cultures.
His short form work highlighting Black student mental health for Boris L. Henson Foundation's Unspoken Curriculum was awarded two Clio Awards, a ONE SHOW award, a D&AD Award, a Young Director Award, and others in 2022. Additionally his short films Win By Two (2020) and Change (2020) garnered jury awards from the Houston Cinema Arts Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival respectively.
Stephen Pfeil
Editor
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Stephen Pfeil is documentary and scripted film editor from Louisiana and based in the American South, and he hopes to use his skills to elevate stories from and about that region. He worked as Additional Editor for director Angela Tucker and editor Annukka Lilja on THE INQUISITOR, which premiered at Tribeca, and on Brennan Robideaux’s sophomore feature SALLIE’S ASHES, which premiered at Telluride. In the scripted space, he has edited films that have premiered at Tribeca Festival (SHAPELESS) and have been part of Hulu’s Bite-Sized Halloween (ANGELS) with his frequent collaborator Samantha Aldana. Other work has played on PBS, Fantastic Fest, Fantasia Festival, Short of the Week, Louisiana Film Prize, Shudder, and SyFy. He’s also edited a music video for Big Freedia. TURNAROUND marks his first collaboration with Abe Felix and Darcy McKinnon.