SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! SPEAK. provides a fascinating and impressive inside perspective on what it takes to arrive at the world’s largest oratory competition, the National Speech and Debate Association Nationals, as a competitor to win. Following five top high school oratory students from Florida, Minnesota, and Texas, who have dedicated themselves to perfecting a spoken word performance regardless of the obstacles surrounding them, is a documentary journey worth watching.
Defending her title twice before, Esther Oyetunji is after a hat-trick to solidify her place in oratory history, while Mfaz Mohamed Ali, who is Muslim, is trying for her first win and is the most significant threat to Esther, while Sam Schaefer, Noor Garoui, and Noah Chao-Detiveaux are also attempting to overthrow Esther they may have more meaningful motivations. These dedicated and fascinating young men and women come to the competition with vast differences and lifestyles. Yet, they are extremely plugged into who they are and what they are doing. From a TikTok sensation and gifted comedian to raising pigs and caring for a special needs sibling or grappling with one’s mother’s suicide and autism, no two competitors compare to one another.
A still from Speak. by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
“…a fascinating and impressive inside perspective on what it takes to arrive at the world’s largest oratory competition…”
However, what makes SPEAK. a standout documentary film about the next generation of oratory champions, and they keep prestigious company, including the likes of Oprah, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Josh Gad, and Brad Pitt is that directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman were trusted filmmakers. The competitors invited them into their lives, warts and all, to provide a foundation that makes their efforts valued and most impressive. Weighing social and family issues, and least not forget anti-LGBTQ+ legislation to the epidemic of school shootings, Tiexiera and Mossman allow the competition to provide hope and a connection for our future generations who are being handed a messy situation unreflective of the real world these students are currently living in and surviving one day at a time. Even though the competition links these students to much larger interests beyond becoming a champion, it’s more about what it takes to excel and feel honored in today’s most bizarre human condition.
Even though the outcome of the competition may surprise you, it’s the journey and experience that lasts beyond the screen. SPEAK. is as much about the gifted students as it is about their coaches, parents, friends, and others who see the potential and support these oratory masters with unconditional love and zero judgment even in the fiercest of competition—something to think about.
A well-edited and rhythmically moving documentary, SPEAK. communicates with us and will continue to hold its own for many years to come.
SPEAK. screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
"…SPEAK. communicates with us"
