SCHOOL OF LIFE (L’École buissonnière)

Sunday, April 29 – 4:45 pm – Renoir Theatre

Directed by: Nicolas Vanier
Written by: Nicolas Vanier, Jérôme Tonnerre
Cinematography: Éric Guichard, Laurent Charbonnier
Film Editing: Raphaële Urtin
Original Score: Armand Amar
Produced by: Clément Miserez, Matthieu Warter (Radar Films), StudioCanal, France 2 Cinéma
Cast: François Cluzet (Totoche), Jean Scandel (Paul), Eric Elmosnino (Borel), Francois Berléand (the Count), Valérie Karsenti (Célestine)
International Sales: StudioCanal

Paris, 1927. The city has a surfeit of war orphans. Paul is one of them. When kind countrywoman Celestine sees how badly the boy is treated in his austere orphanage, she offers to take him to live with her and her husband on a vast country estate, which is owned by a count, in Sologne. Now freed from his “prison”, the recalcitrant, suspicious boy suddenly finds himself in a foreign land of lush forests, misty ponds and an inexhaustible cavalcade of beautifully photographed, spectacular wildlife. Paul befriends a wily poacher named Totoche (the charismatic François Cluzet), who teaches him to fish and set traps and how to live in this strange new world. But greater secrets loom behind the walls of the mysterious Count’s estate… and Paul has not come there by chance.

Nicolas Vanier | Writer/director Nicolas Vanier was born in Senegal, grew up on his grandfather’s farm in Sologne, and is a celebrated nature-lover, adventurist and dog sled racer. The author of numerous novels and graphic novels, Vanier was honored with the Prix Maurice-Genevoix, for his novel Le Chant du grand nord (2002). In addition to several shorts and documentaries, Vanier has directed the narrative features Loup (2009), which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and the wildly successful Belle and Sebastien (2013).

In Association with: StudioCanal
Labels: All Audiences