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Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and five-year-old Ameenah Horne are not your typical red carpet personalities. But with the hottest topic in education, charter schools, hitting the big screen, the schools chancellor and Harlem kindergartner walked the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet last week.

“It's a compelling story about families fighting for quality education for their children in Harlem,” said Klein. “And it’s a story that I think should move all of us to do the right thing, create more options, let parents decide what's best. And I think that's the message of this story.”

The documentary, called “The Lottery,” does have a message, and it's that charter schools are a beacon of hope amongst abysmal public schools and should be expanded dramatically. The hero of the film is Eva Moskowitz – former City Council member who founded Harlem Success Charter Schools. The villain is the teacher's union, blamed for protecting horrible teachers in failing schools.

While charter school expansion is a very politically-charged subject, especially right now, the audience at this screening was overwhelmingly supportive of charters.

It's 27-year-old director Madeline Sackler's first film, but the cinematography, original score, and editing all suggests a generous budget. Sackler declined to reveal the film's funders, but she did admit some of them also fund charter schools.

“Yes, there was some overlap,” she said. “I think that people who are philanthropically inclined toward education are who you would go to fund a documentary about education.”

With hotly-contested charter legislation moving through both houses in Albany, the scene at the screening was more about education politics than filmmaking. But ultimately, the movie is about four families, struggling with real issues like imprisonment, disability, immigration, and, above all, finding an excellent school to help their smart, gregarious four-year-olds have a better future.

They all decided that school is Harlem Success, but with only one out of every seven applicants chosen in the admissions lottery, this is a film that isn't going to end well for everyone. And no matter what your politics on charter schools are, that makes for a heartbreaking tale.