To Be and to Have (2002)

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 & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Georges Lopez	...	L'institueur
Alizé	...	Les enfants de la classe
Axel Thouvenin	...	Les enfants de la classe (as Axel)
Guillaume	...	Les enfants de la classe
Jessie	...	Les enfants de la classe
Johan	...	Les enfants de la classe - Jojo
Johann	...	Les enfants de la classe
Jonathan	...	Les enfants de la classe
Julien	...	Les enfants de la classe
Laura	...	Les enfants de la classe
Létitia	...	Les enfants de la classe
Marie-Elizabeth	...	Les enfants de la classe
Nathalie	...	Les enfants de la classe
Olivier	...	Les enfants de la classe
Franck	...	Les frères et soeurs, les nouveaux...

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 | auvergne | schoolhouse | dedicated teacher | snow | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Family

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Etre et Avoir received so many awards and was met with such fanfare, the teacher, Georges Lopez, sued the producer for compensation. Contractually he and the students were paid a set amount of money (low-budget documentary prices), however Lopez did promotional tours and thought he deserved a larger share after the film's success. The French judge did not rule in his favour.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Cinema Today and the Future (2011)

User Reviews

I Have To Be Honest ...

... and say that this is one of the warmest and most accomplished documentaries of the last few years. Deceptive simplicity is not the easiest thing to pull off but here it works perfectly. The thing is that there's no way to tell people who haven't seen it that a film that spans about six months in a one-room schoolhouse in the Auvergne with teacher and pupils being rather than playing themselves is so rewarding. Winter turns into Spring, Spring becomes early Summer. That's it. The changes in the pupils are less obvious, more felt than seen. The teacher, in his last year before retirement is far less academically gifted than Mr. Chips but he is Real as opposed to the fictional Chips and both are imbued with the hard-to-pin-down qualities that make good teachers. A second viewing, about a year later found the film holding up well. 9/10

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:

EUR1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,528, 21 September 2003

Gross USA:

$777,129

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,063,920

Company Credits

Production Co:

Maïa Films, Arte France Cinéma, Les Films d'Ici

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1