To Be and to Have (2002)
"Être et avoir" (original title)

A documentary portrait of a one-room school in rural France, where the students (ranging in age from 4 to 11) are educated by a single dedicated teacher.

Director:

Nicolas Philibert

Stars:

Georges Lopez, Alizé, Axel Thouvenin

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Georges Lopez	...	The teacher
Alizé	...	Herself (student)
Axel Thouvenin	...	Himself (student) (as Axel)
Guillaume	...	Himself (student)
Jessie	...	Herself
Johan	...	Himself (student) (as Jojo)
Johann	...	Himself (student)
Jonathan	...	Himself
Julien	...	Himself (student)
Laura	...	Herself
Létitia	...	Herself
Marie-Elizabeth	...	Herself
Nathalie	...	Herself
Olivier	...	Himself (student)
Franck	...	Himself

Storyline

How do we learn to live with others and their wishes? Director Nicolas Philibert poses this question in a village schoolhouse in Auvergne, where Georges Lopez teaches 13 children, ages ranging from about four to 12. Against a landscape of mountains and farmland, from driving snow to rain to sun, the children gather in Lopez's warm and colorful classroom, to read, write dictation, cook, and sort things out. At home, the older ones do homework with parents after their chores. At year's end, they look ahead to the next, visiting the middle school and meeting the little ones coming in the fall. As they learn sums and adjectives, with Lopez's help, they also learn to live side by side.

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Plot Keywords:

school | dedicated teacher | france | dictation | classroom | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Family

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

28 August 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

To Be and to Have

Filming Locations:

Saint-Etienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Box Office

Budget:

€1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,528 (USA) (19 September 2003)

Gross:

$775,607 (USA) (11 June 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Centre National de Documentation Pédagogique, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen by "Telerama" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2002 (#05)

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Connections

Referenced in Another Gay Movie (2006)

User Reviews

An observation of the humanity of young people.

This is a real feel good movie. A documentary that captures life in a small village in France anchored by the one room school and it's teacher Monsieur Lopez. Life is not easy for family farmers anywhere but this film shows the rewards of this particular village school. The older children show warmth and protection toward the little ones. It is the whole idea that it takes a village and if not that at least a good teacher. His clam demeanor is reflected in the calmness of the children

• that is if they are not too upset, but Monsier never yells, at least

not during the film. My french professor yelled constantly and insulted every imperfection, but Monsier Lopez is gentle and kind even when he scolds his students. He follows a cadence that seems to be an echo of the countryside where they live and the movie seems to also follow this cadence. Those of us who have spent most of our lives in cities might feel the urge to scream during the movie, but resist that urge and try to observe and not direct the flow of the film. There are wonderful moments of the humanity of young children and pre-adolescents. Some are funny and some are heart rendering, but all are real.