YOUNG FRENCH CINEMA - Discover a New Generation of Directors
SCHOOL OF BABEL (La Cour de Babel)
Tuesday, September 1 at 7:30 pm • Regular Admission
Julie Bertuccelli’s profoundly moving documentary observes a group of immigrant students, ranging in age from 11 to 15, in a class at a secondary school in Paris designed to help them with their grasp of French. The pupils and their families have arrived at the French capital from all over the world: China, Ireland, Senegal, Morocco, Venezuela, Ukraine, to name just a few countries. Some are political refugees, others are escaping economic hardship, while others are simply hoping to start anew. Limiting her filming almost exclusively to the classroom, Bertuccelli (here helming her fourth feature-length work and second nonfiction project) captures an extraordinary range of interactions—not just among the students and their unflappable teacher but also among the pupils and their parents during in-school conferences. Compassionate but never maudlin, School of Babel shines a light on the newest arrivals to an exceptionally diverse city, paying close attention to the formidable challenges they face. (France, 2013, 89 min., Documentary, DCP | Dir. Julie Bertuccelli)