This documentary was directed by Jeffrey Blitz in 2002. The film revolves around the Scripps National Spelling Bee held in 1999 where eight competitors are battling for the prize. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature.
Yana Gorskaya’s editing won the ACE Eddie award in the category of best documentary editing. This documentary also won the Emmy for Cultural and Artistic Programming while Jeffrey Blitz was nominated for the best director award.
This documentary was included in the IDA Top 25 Documentaries of all-time in 2007, by the members of the International Documentary Association, who ranked it at fourth place. The participants of the competition appear on the DVD cover and their names, from left to right, are Neil Kadakia, Emily Stagg, Ashley White, April DeGideo, Harry Altman, Angela Arenivar, Nupur Lala and Ted Brigham.
The winner of the first National Spelling Bee held in 1925, Frank Neuhauser, appears in the documentary as well.
Watch more competition by clicking here.
