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The French Cinémathèque series by the Cultural Services of the French Visit us at Embassy www.frenchculture.org

The French Cinémathèque series by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States presents: La Cour de Babel (School of Babel) Cast & Crew Director: Julie Bertuccelli Producer: Les Films du poisson, Sampek Productions, Arte France Cinema Starring: Brigitte Cervoni, French eacher at La Grange aux Belles middle-school (Paris), and her 24 students th Award: 35 Cesar Awards, nominated for best Documentary Anecdote Synopsis: This 2014 documentary film Julie Bertuccelli filmed the class at least twice a explores the immigrant experience of a week for 9 months. At first, she struggled to get group of international adolescents that her camera accepted by the students. They would have just arrived in France: they are not act natural in front of it. But overtime, Julie Irish, Serbian, Brazilian, Tunisian, Bertuccelli eventually became one of the students. Chinese, and Senegalese and are aged Later on she stated: “I was trying to be discreet, between 11 and 15 years old. but I did not want to hide from them”.

Director’s Statement (Extracted from www.unifrance.org) “I discovered adaptation classes when I was chairing a school film jury, a few years ago. There was something fascinating about those classes. It was a patchwork of so many nationalities and personal paths, yet sharing a common goal: to learn French and try to fit in a place they don’t belong. “A place they don’t belong”: this was the idea that struck me the most. (…) I wanted to convey the turmoil that exile represents, especially at this key age, when childhood is close to an end. I wanted to know more about what they’d left behind, their culture, their beliefs, their memories, their hopes as well as disillusions. (…) At the stage they are now, the dream of integration is still intact. Their joy for living and discovering a new world is a palpable thing. What interests me is their enthusiasm, and this class which seems to be like a concrete utopia where, despite of looming difficulties, everything remains possible” Awards Nominated for Best Documentary th 40 Cesar Awards

The French Cinémathèque series is made possible through a grant from: Visit our website and sign up for our newsletter www.frenchculture.org