A story that began in a classroom at Prospect High School is now reaching a wider audience on the big screen.
All of the Above, a documentary by 2012 Prospect graduate Allison Walsh, has been selected for the Milwaukee Film Festival, with screenings scheduled for April 17 and 18. The Friday evening showing will take place in the festival’s main theater, bringing the story to an audience of nearly 1,000 attendees.
The film centers on Walsh’s former teacher, John Camardella, and Prospect’s long-running World Religions course. The experience left a lasting impression and ultimately inspired her career as a documentary filmmaker.
“I had a pretty profound experience in John’s World Religions class when I was a high school senior,” Walsh said. “It opened up my world and revealed something inside of me, a passion for learning about different perspectives.”
That experience extended beyond course content. Walsh recalls meaningful moments of connection with classmates, including conversations that helped her better understand the lived experiences of others.
“I wasn’t just learning about religions around the world,” she said. “I was learning about my peers. It gave me a deeper connection to people I had known for years.”
Years later, that same class became the foundation for her first feature-length documentary. Walsh spent roughly six years filming and producing All of the Above, using an observational, “fly-on-the-wall” style to capture authentic classroom dialogue and student experiences.
Her work was shaped in part by an internship with Kartemquin Films in Chicago, where she collaborated with experienced filmmakers and developed the technical skills needed to document a live classroom environment.
“I wanted audiences to feel like they’re sitting in the class alongside these students,” Walsh said. “Many people have never had an opportunity to take a class like this, so the film offers an inside look at what it’s like to engage in these conversations day to day.”
For Camardella, now in his 23rd year at Prospect, the course is designed to help students navigate an increasingly complex and diverse world.
“Students are constantly encountering difference, whether religious, cultural or political, but don’t always have structured opportunities to make sense of it,” he said. “This course is about creating that space.”
The class emphasizes understanding over agreement, encouraging students to explore the diversity within belief systems and engage thoughtfully with one another.
“One idea we return to is that religions don’t believe anything, people do,” Camardella said. “That shift opens the door to better questions and more meaningful conversations.”
Since 2018, the course has offered dual credit in partnership with Eastern Illinois University and is believed to be the first of its kind at the high school level. Today, it is one of Prospect’s most sought-after classes, with many seniors hoping to enroll each year.
For both teacher and filmmaker, the documentary reflects something larger than a single classroom.
“To see Allison return and document this experience with such care has been incredibly meaningful,” Camardella said. “What she captured is less about me and more about the students, and what can happen when a classroom takes these questions seriously.”
All of the Above premiered earlier this year at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and is continuing its run at festivals across the country this spring.
Walsh hopes the film leaves audiences with a sense of possibility.
“My goal is to amplify the work happening in this classroom and show that it’s possible to have deeply held beliefs, disagree, and still seek to understand one another,” she said.
More information about the film and upcoming screenings is available at alloftheabovedoc.com.