Move over, Michael Moore.

One of the city’s most powerful union chiefs, Randi Weingarten, has jumped into the documentary film game.

After many years of opposing charter schools, the United Federation of Teachers in September opened one of its own – the UFT Elementary School – and hired a film crew to document the endeavor. It is the first union-operated charter school in the country. Ms. Weingarten is president of the union.

On Friday night, viewers will have their first glimpse of the 35-minute documentary, “Climbing to the Crest,” at a special screening at the annual Tribeca Film Festival.

“The film chronicles a day in the life of the school and captures the tireless effort needed to close the achievement gap. In this risky venture, labor has become management to prove what works best for kids,” the colorful invitation to the screening reads. The invitation features photos of children in red and blue UFT T-shirts.

“You’re going to see all the good things and all the warts,” Ms. Weingarten, who provides most of the voice-over for the film, said in an interview last week.

The union spent about $200,000 on the documentary.

Education policy-makers across the country are keeping a close eye on the school to see if it can operate successfully under the constraints of a union contract. Ms. Weingarten said she hoped the film would illustrate how hard the teachers are working and the union’s “trailblazing.”

The filmmaker, Barbara Malmet, a longtime friend of Ms. Weingarten, is a professor at New York University.

“I wouldn’t compromise my artistic integrity to make a puff piece,” Ms. Malmet said when asked if the film’s objectivity would be questioned because the union funded it.

“The first question Barbara asked me was, ‘How much freedom will I have?'” Ms. Weingarten said. She said the UFT isn’t opposed to charter schools, but wants to make them more union-friendly.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run, typically are not required to hire union teachers and are exempt from most district rules. The UFT Elementary School opened in September with 150 kindergarten and first-grade students. It operates under the same contract as the rest of the city’s public schools.

Ms. Weingarten characterized her oversight of the film as “fairly limited.”

After the screening, the UFT is hosting a red-carpet fund-raiser at Stuyvesant High School featuring “upscale cafeteria food.” The menu includes deep-fried macaroni and cheese and hot dogs in brioche, a modern twist on “pigs in a blanket.” Senator Clinton is scheduled to attend.

In a nod to Hollywood, about 20 of the school’s kindergartners and firstgraders will sport sunglasses and sign autographs while sitting in director’s chairs. In preparation, some of the students spent much of last week working on their signatures.

As part of its charter, the UFT must raise 10% of its operating budget, or $3 million, over five years. Friday’s event is the school’s primary fund-raiser for the year.

The UFT compiled a blue-ribbon event committee that includes a cluster of financiers and elected officials. Many of them support the UFT but have somewhat murky opinions on charter schools.

The president of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, is listed as a committee member, but he feels the “jury is still out” on charter schools and is leaning against lifting the statewide cap on such schools, a spokesman said.

Lawmakers in Albany are debating whether to amend the 1998 state law that allowed for the creation of charter schools but capped their number at 100. Opponents of charters argue that the schools siphon away much needed money from the regular public schools.

In New York City, about 12,000 students attend 47 charter schools; another 13 schools are set to open in September.

Mayor Dinkins lent his name to the event but will not be able to attend. A spokesman for Mr. Dinkins said he did not have a blanket statement on charter schools.

Another former mayor, Edward Koch, makes a cameo appearance in the film and takes credit in part for the school’s existence.

“I was the one who suggested to Randi that she apply for a charter,” he said.

Mr. Koch plans to critique “Climbing to the Crest” for one of his weekly film reviews.

“Aside from being modest about my own performance, I will be totally honest in the review,” he said.

Other committee members include the public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum; the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn; real estate developer Bruce Ratner; a principal at the private-equity firm Leeds Equity Partners, Jeffrey Leeds; state Senator David Paterson, a Democrat who is running for lieutenant governor, and the city’s comptroller, William Thompson.