Sundance's "Jane Elliott Against the World" is More Relevant Now than Ever

The fabled Sundance Film Festival is known for bringing new groundbreaking work to the forefront of the film world. Whether it's features, shorts, or documentaries, there is always something great to see at Sundance. This year was the festival's final year in Park City, so the stakes to debut important projects felt higher than ever. One of the most profound films this year was feature documentary, Jane Elliott Against the World by Judd Ehrlich, which serves to not only celebrate its subject, but introduce the next generation to one of the fiercest civil rights leaders currently living.

Jane Elliott is someone you've definitely heard of, even if her name doesn't ring a bell. On April 5th, 1968, the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Elliott, an elementary school teacher in Riceville, Iowa, conducted a social experiment with her third grade students that would come to be known as the "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise. Elliott took her classroom of all white, Christian children and treated them differently for a day based on the color of their eyes. One group would be made to wear a collar for a day and whichever group's turn it was, they would be treated like the average person of color in America for that day. This included being demeaned, spoken down to, underestimated, and meant to feel like "the other." At the end of the exercise, Elliott had effectively taught her third graders about racial discrimination and to treat others the way they want to be treated.

The "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise was controversial, and remains heavily scrutinized to this day, nearly six decades later. While it thrusted Elliott into the mainstream, she also became inundated with hate mail, insults, and verbal abuse from millions of Americans who thought she had gone "too far." Detractors called her "cruel," but Elliott's past and continued advocacy for people of color in the United States remains relevant.

This year's 2026 film festival saw the world premiere of Jane Elliott Against the World by director, Judd Ehrlich. Featuring appearances by author Ibran X. Kendi and four-time Grammy winner, Killer Mike from Run the Jewels. It is a documentary that observes her work as an activist while also giving audiences a glimpse into something we have never seen before: her personal life...

Something that is seldom known about Jane Elliott is that in addition to being an activist, she is also a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Fifty eight years after her Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise, Jane Elliott continues to fight for the rights of marginalized people in the United States. This has unfortunately made her one of the most hated figures in the country by the far-right, which has affected not only her, but her children. Jane Elliott Against the World dives into how her advocacy has made her family a target of harassment. Elliott's constant traveling and appearances on talk shows like Oprah have given her a wide audience, but also took her away from her children as they were growing up. The documentary explores how the relationships between Elliott and her children still struggle to this day and audiences get to catch of glimpse behind the curtain of her life outside of being an activist. It is as fascinating as it is deeply sad. This personal touch is what sets Jane Elliott Against the World apart from the average documentary.

As someone familiar with Ms. Elliott's work prior to my screening, I had some idea of the content that would be covered, but never in a million years did I expect so much comedy. It is downright unbelievable how Jane Elliott has managed to keep her sense of humor and spunky attitude after years of harassment and abuse. She does not care that people see her as "a bitch," she embraces and reclaims that term. It is hard not to become absolutely obsessed with her by the time the credits roll.

Despite how long she has been fighting, Elliott's fight is far from over. In the documentary she makes the shocking statement that this country is in worse shape now than it was when she originally conducted the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise in 1968. A statement that sent chills throughout the entire theater. But despite this, Elliott remains optimistic about the future, and although she may not live to see true equality in America, she presses on. Nowadays she is using her platform to fight against anti-education bills in Temecula, California, her great-grandchildrens' hometown. In a world where multiple US states are trying to ban "critical race theory," erasing the Civil Rights Movement from classrooms, Jane Elliott is simply not going to let that slide without a fight.

When we asked director, Judd Ehrlich why Jane Elliott's famous exercise still remains relevant over half a century later, he replied: "It's confrontational. We have a lot to learn from Jane in this moment, because everyone in this country needs some courage. Jane doesn't want your admiration, she wants your courage. Jane has been beating the same drum for 55 years, she knows that if we don't learn from our history, we're doomed to repeat it. Again, we're living through a tough, tough moment in this country right now and we all need more Jane Elliott inside each and every one of us, so we get up every day and fight for what's right."

It's no secret that the United States is going through a particularly turbulent time, politically. And I think I speak for the majority of the country who can see through all the BS, that this world would be a better place if we were all a bit more like Jane Elliott.