Spellbound, which has won a plethora of awards so far, is a documentary charting the journey of eight American teens to the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. This film is both funny and moving, (as well as being a test to your own spelling abilities!), an uber Battle of the Geeks, showing us the many facets of life in America. From the Indian property developers to Mexican immigrant farmers, the whole spectrum of society is covered in the film, and the deep divisions between the well off and the poor are accentuated by a lack of narrative or voice over. The children train vigorously for the competition � for some up to eight hours a day, and revising some 7000 words at a time. They not only need to know how the words are spelled, but also their etymology and meaning. The parents� attitudes towards the competition are in many cases far more interesting than the kids�, and you do wonder what part of their child�s success they see to be their own. But most of all we are shown a world in which competition is king, and winning � or at least public achievement � is paramount.