- Underwater Dreams, narrated by Michael Peña, chronicles the story of how the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants learned how to build underwater robots. And go up against MIT in the process.
- Underwater Dreams, written and directed by Mary Mazzio, and narrated by Michael Peña, is an epic story of how the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants learned how to build an underwater robot from cheap PVC parts. And defeat engineering powerhouse MIT in the process. Hailed by Jonathan Alter as "the most politically significant documentary film since Waiting for Superman (The Daily Beast); featured on the Colbert Report; called "astonishing... already a contender for the best documentary of 2014" (David Noh, Film Journal); "moving and insightful" (Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times) with similar reviews from the New York Times and others, Underwater Dreams was released theatrically on July 11 in Los Angeles, New York, and Phoenix with AMC Theatres. The project was announced by the White House; opened ClintonGlobal (with Chelsea Clinton moderating); and screened at the Aspen Ideas Festival (with Jonathan Alter moderating). The film, which is the centerpiece of NBCUniversal's new community engagement campaign focused on exciting the next generation of Hispanic students around engineering, is currently embarking upon a 100 city tour in partnership with AMC Theatres where non-profits and educators can bring large groups of students to their local AMC to see the film on the big screen. Free of charge. An educational initiative with NBCLearn is underway.—Anonymous
- Underwater Dreams, narrated by Michael Peña, is the true story of how the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants learned how to build underwater robots. And go up against MIT in the process.
This is how it transpired. Two energetic high school science teachers, on a whim, decided to enter their high school, a Title I school where most of the students live in poverty, into a sophisticated underwater robotics competition sponsored by the NASA and the Office of Naval Research, among others. Only four boys signed up for the competition, but once assembled, with enthusiasm and verve, they started calling oceanic engineers and military contractors for design help. They were advised that their underwater robot would require glass syntactic flotation foam. Short on money, all they could afford was PVC pipe from Home Depot. And some duct tape.
After a few test runs of their robot (aptly named Stinky), the team was confident that they would not come in last at the event, so they all piled into a beat up van to head to the competition. The boys entered the main pool area, seeing college teams in matching gear, with robots sponsored by the likes of Exxon Mobil. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, the boys put Stinky in the water for a test run. Only the PVC did not hold up. The robot leaked. And sunk.
The boys put their heads together and hilariously came up with a brilliant solution. 12 hours later, armed with 8 super-plus tampons to plug the leak in Stinkys mechanical housing, the robot was lowered into the pool again. Only this time, Stinky performed admirably.
Fast forward to a shocking result. This rag-tag high school team of undocumented Mexican boys did what no one thought possible. The competition, however, was only the beginning. These boys forged a legacy that could not have been imagined.
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