Note to filmmakers. Don't take on too many roles on your next film.

Unless you're a certified creative genius and renaissance person - you lessen your chances of success as a storyteller.

Voice-of-God narrations are always a turn off, and `School of Hope' makes ample use of this story telling device in the worst way.

For most of this one-hour film I had a hard time getting past the voice and when I did I wondered about the real story behind the film's subjects.

Producer James Howard has made a documentary about a school in Beijing which offers a basic education to poor rural women, giving them a shot at a better life. The film follows four such women from recruitment to graduation.

Like the school itself, School of Hope is a noble effort and it's obvious that Howard cares about the subject matter. It's also obvious that he should have made some different choices when selecting his team.

Being the director of photography, narrator, producer and editor on your own film is tempting and may seem a practical approach. The trouble is, such an approach runs the risk of not finding the most compelling way to tell the story.

A D.P. editing his own material, for example, may not have storytelling priorities in mind. And that is what I think happened with School of Hope. I kept wanting to know more about the women and what they thought. I waited in vain for the women's stories to reveal some critical questions about rural urban migration and the paradoxes of development in China.

And when it did - which was rarely - I waited for some follow through, but it never really happened. Another flaw in this film was its failure to fully humanise the women and the villagers that Howard clearly cares about.

Much of that is the result of the voice-over which increased the distance between subject and audience. Actually hearing their voices and using subtitles would have been better.

Ayo Johnson