Teenagers dissect a Nobel laureate's sex life. Chaos ensues. Brilliance follows.
A major figure in contemporary feminism and the first Frenchwoman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux is seen by many as a source of individual and collective emancipation, blending the intimate with the universal. Filmmaker Claire Simon has devoted an original portrait to her, giving students and teachers a voice.
Direction
Simon disappears; the classroom becomes its own character.
Writing
Ernaux's prose weaponized by teenagers who barely trust adults.
Director
Claire Simon
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film captures France's unique lycée system where philosophy is mandatory and teenagers are expected to have opinions about Sartre before they can legally drink.
Simon spent months in the same classroom before filming, earning trust that shows in the students' unguarded reactions to passages about shame and desire.
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