THE ROAD UP
2019
Feature Documentary
Directed by Greg Jacobs & Jon Siskel
Edited by John Farbrother
Cinematography by Stephen Mazurek
Music by Joshua Abrams
Producer Rachel Pikelny
Co-Producer Amy Ostrander
Siskel/Jacobs Productions
The Road Up opens in a large conference room at Cara, a job-training program in Chicago’s South Loop. Cara provides services and opportunities for low-income adults who face barriers to employment, with the goal of placing them in jobs they’re expected to hold for at least a year. But first, every Cara student is required to attend a month-long “boot camp” called Transformations. And that’s where Mr. Jesse comes in.
Equal parts preacher, teacher, comedian, and coach, Jesse Teverbaugh developed and runs the Transformations class. Jesse treats every four-week session like a boxer entering the ring, exhausting himself in an effort to spark hope in the hearts of his students, a sense of possibility that most have long since lost.
For some, he becomes a surrogate father, building them up, but also calling them out.
Jesse’s classroom lessons are reflected in the lives of the film’s four main subjects—Kristen, Clarence, Alisa, and Tamala—whose journeys, both during and after Transformations, are woven throughout. Taken together, their stories create a powerful mosaic of the struggles that millions of Americans face every day, the daunting and often interconnected barriers that prevent so many from getting—and keeping—a job.
Audience Choice Award Best Documentary Chicago international Film Festival
Spotlight on Inspiration Award St. Louis International Film Festival
Michael Sullivan Award for Documentary Journalism Salem Film Fest
Ashland Independent Film Festival
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival
Sedona International Film Festival
Sarasota Film Festival
Hamptons Doc Fest
Berkshire International Film Fest
Beloit International Film Festival
Omaha Film Festival
“The Road Up is a truly amazing documentary that manages to inspire without glossing over the harsh realities of life…Perfectly paced editing, beautiful cinematography. 5 stars (out of five)”
–Christopher Lewis, MXDWN“One of the best documentaries of 2020…Inspiring, heart-breaking, and triumphant…I was floored.”
–Kevin Wozniak, kevflix.com“A stirring Chicago documentary.”
–Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune“The Road Up breathes new life into what it takes to overcome deep-seated challenges largely because Teverbaugh is so good at his job. But so are these filmmakers. The care Teverbaugh brings to his work, and they to theirs, comes through in every frame.”
–Erin Trahan, WBUR-Boston“This film will nourish the glimmer of hope in all who watch it, hope for Mr. Jesse and his students but also the little glimmers we sometimes overlook in ourselves.”
–Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com“A masterfully produced documentary”
–Don Schwartz, From the Heart Productions“Timeless…The Road Up wound up blindsiding me…Jesse Teverbaugh will easily be one of the most memorable human beings that I’ll encounter all year in my film viewing. 4 stars (out of 4)”
–David J. Fowlie, Keeping It Reel
