In search of wisdom found in unlikely places, The Philosopher Kings takes us on a journey through the halls of America’s most prestigious colleges and universities to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the janitors.

Patrick Shen has created a haunting and deeply uplifting film that exhorts us to look again when next we are tempted to dismiss someone simply because of their job title. For though they occupy lowly positions in society, these men and women are truly amazing people with remarkable stories to tell. We meet Jim Evener, a Vietnam vet and janitor at Cornell University who, at the age of 19, was shot in the back and left for dead in the Vietnamese jungle. Through sheer tenacity he crawled for three days to safety before finally passing out. When he woke up paralysed in a Japanese hospital he was told he would never walk again. Typically his fierce determination prevailed and eight months later he walked out of the hospital unaided.

And then there’s Josue, a Haitian who works two jobs and gruelling hours to support a family of 15 back home - and yet he is relentlessly positive and does without complaint what many of us would struggle to do at all.  Luis Cardenas is another. A janitor at Cal Tech, still recovering from the loss of his arm thanks to a drunk driver, he begins the difficult process of relearning tasks that were once automatic.

Linking all these characters is a stoic, deeply philosophical attitude: they have all had to endure much more than the average person and yet they are without self-pity. We could learn from them. Featuring a quite brilliant score from Composer Nathan Matthew David, this is a deeply moving film that manages to stir without piling on the pathos.

Festivals and Awards

Winner

Emerging Cinematic Vision Award, Camden International Film Festival, 2009
Special Judges’ Mention, Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, 2009

Nominated

Best Documentary, Silverdocs/ Discovery Channel Doc Film Festival, 2009
Best Documentary, Calgary International Film Festival, 2009
Best Documentary, Raindance Film Festival, 2009

Official Selection

San Francisco International Doc Film Festival, 2009
DC Labor Film Festival, 2009
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, 2009
San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2009
Virginia Film Festival, 2009