About: Spreadsheet Champions follows six students as they put their Excel-lent skills to the ultimate test in Microsoft’s most prestigious and difficult category. A heartwarming tale of formulas and friendship, Spreadsheet Champions reveals the far-reaching influence of spreadsheets in today’s world and the power of young minds to shape our future. Who will triumph, who will fail, who will EXCEL?
Jason’s Reaction: I pretty much never knew something like a tournament for using the Excel program ever existed, so watching SPREADSHEET CHAMPIONS, which follows six students from all over the world who can ONLY compete once in their lives in said competition was a real eye-opener. This doc reminded me of SPELLBOUND from many years ago, in that movie celebrated intelligence and preparation, and SPREADSHEET CHAMPIONS works in much of the same way where we get to meet a group of VERY smart kids of various backgrounds and levels of intelligence and it’s so much fun to watch them all tick down to the big event. Bonus points in that filmmaker Kristina Kraskov has created a very well produced and researched documentary that is passionate about its subject, and even has a light cinematic value with its great use of music score, titles on screen and proficient editing. I feel the movie would work on the big screen along with an eventual home video or streaming release, and this MUST be shown in more schools!
Antonio’s Reaction: I was not expecting how much I was going to love the documentary SPREADSHEET CHAMPIONS. It’s a tournament where high school age kids from around the world compete to see which one is best using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets App. This documentary has it all; drama, friendship, failure, disappointment, victory and tragedy.
At SXSW, I’m always on the lookout for a documentary that shows us a niche subculture I never knew existed. This one covers kids that obsess with Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet software. These kids are amazing at working with data. We learn this knowledge will bring opportunities in their future career. As their skills at recording and analyzing data thru excel give them a wide range of career options. Everything from working in engineering at Nasa, a tech company’s new app or even analyzing medical research data. They can go into these fields as they know how to work with complex data.
The excel competition reunites kids from all over the planet. We follow kids from Vietnam, Guatemala, Australia, China and many others. The interesting part is that when they finally reach the competition the kids don’t see each other as rivals. They see each other as fellow outcasts. They all party and play games during the first day of the competition. In this competition the kids learn that they’re not unique or weird. As they find many other kids that share their same passion for Excel.
When the competition begins, the real drama also begins. Many of the kids learn that they might not be as good as they thought with Excel. They are now facing some of the most Excel problems they ever faced. Each kid gets the feeling in the pit of their stomach; that they might not be as excellent as they thought. I have previously worked as floor manager for the law bar exam. Where my job was to pass the test sheet, be a timekeeper, pass supplies and check on the rules. It was there I saw the same faces I saw on these kids while working on their challenges. The face that says I was not prepared for this test as I thought. I see people faint and vomit from the stress in this type of competition. I especially hate that feeling when you fail to save your work and the computer crashes. Now you have to do everything all over again. There is no other crushing feeling.
Once we reach the moment to announce the winners, you will be surprised with the outcome. You never could have guessed which of these kids did so much better and which one underperformed. Although this is not a competition, it is more like a passage to adulthood for this kid. This was their test of fire. I’m sure many of these kids would go on to have amazing careers in many different fields. This was just a great documentary that keeps you invested.
This is one of the many movies playing in this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival. For more information on the festival, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!