My Old School

Alan Cumming brings to life the strange but true story of a student imposter in this riveting documentary.

In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years would become the stuff of legends.

The preternaturally bright student surprised teachers by blazing toward his goal of entering medical school, displaying a wealth of knowledge beyond his years. Brandon found friends, introduced classmates to seminal retro bands, and even starred in the school's production of South Pacific. But then his unbelievable secret was revealed.

Curator's Note

Filmmaker Jono McLeod returns to his old school for a nostalgic look at the strange but true story of his former classmate, Brandon Lee, enlisting students and teachers to shed light on the oddest con the town has ever seen. In a stroke of genius, McLeod places his film subjects back in the physical classroom of their youth, causing a kind of amusing regression as friendships and feuds are revisited.

Playful, Daria-esque animations set to a pitch-perfect soundtrack are used to reenact the memories of students and teachers, while Alan Cumming stands in for the enigmatic Brandon, who agreed to be interviewed for the film but refused to appear on-camera.

Hilarious yet handled with sensitivity, My Old School will have you guessing and gasping until the very end.