Elementary

The latest documentary from Claire Simon follows the school days of staff and pupils at the Ecole Makarenko at Ivry-sur-Seine just outside Paris. Simon takes the camera into the classroom and the playground and makes us privy to the whole educational process. There are inevitably echoes of The Class /Entre les murs (2008) and fictional works like Playground (2021) and Close (2022). This charming film captures the personalities of the children, the caring teachers but also some of the conflicts, the tensions and the differences in a very mixed, multicultural school with an amazing curriculum from arithmetic to music, drawing and painting, a trip along the Seine, and a teacher reading them Jules Verne in class. It is inspirational to watch these bright and curious minds at work, as well as the nurturing by the teachers and the vulnerability of some of the youngsters.