La Cour de Babel

e d u c a t i o n a l g u i d e

by Julie Bertuccelli

Guide created by Arnaud Leroux

CONTENTS

2

I. TO UNDERSTAND THE FILM BETTER 3

A) Technical information about the film 3

B) Information about the director 4

C) Summary of the film 4

II. TO WORK IN CLASS WITH THE FILM 5

A) Before the screening

Student worksheet n°1: Discover the film through its poster 6

Teacher worksheet n°1: Discover the film through its poster 8

Student worksheet n°2: Discover the film through its trailer 10

Teacher worksheet n°2: Discover the film through its trailer 12

B) After the screening

Student worksheet n°3: Recreate the story of the film 14

Teacher worksheet n°3: Recreate the story of the film 16

Student worksheet n°4: Study the characters of the film 17

Teacher worksheet n°4: Study the characters of the film 19

III. TO GO EVEN FURTHER 21

A) The middle school in the film 21

B) Analysis of a scene 22

C) Summary of the film by scene 24

D) Sitography 25

Guide made by Arnaud Leroux and translated into English by the Alliance Française of Puerto Rico,

with the support of the Institut Français.

3 Educational guide · SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

I. TO UNDERSTAND THE FILM BETTER

A) TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FILM

French, full-length film

Duration: 1h 29m

Genre: Documentary

Debuted in France: March 12, 2014

Director: Julie Bertuccelli

Producers: Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez, and Éric Lagesse

Sound: Stephan Bauer, Benjamin

Bober, Graciella Barrault, Greg Le

Maitre and Frédéric Dabo

Editing: Josiane Zardoya

Music: Olivier Daviaud

Awards won:

– Nomination for best documentary, Cesar 2015

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B) INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Daughter of director Jean-Louis Bertuccelli, Julie

Bertuccelli was born in 1968 in Boulogne-Billancourt.

After her intensive foundation degree in Literature

(hypokhâgne and khâgne) and a Master’s in

Philosophy (1989), she decides to attend a training

workshop for documentary filmmakers at Varan in

1993. The following year, she filmed Un métier

comme un autre, the first of fifteen or so

documentaries her filmography counts today. Always

the fruit of long work in immersion, her films are about

topics as diverse as justice (La Fabrique des juges,

1997), the Lafayette galleries (Bienvenue au grand

magasin, 1999), the Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani (Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur, 2006) or the feminist

Antoinette Fouque (Antoinette Fouque, qu’est-ce qu’une femme ?, 2008). Each time, the director takes a

warm and empathic look at those she shows on screen. Alongside her debuts as documentarist, Julie

Bertuccelli works as an assistant for filmmakers such as Krzysztof Kieslowski (Bleu, 1993 ; Rouge, 1994),

Bertrand Tavernier (L’Appât, 1995), Emmanuel Finkiel (Madame Jacques sur la croisette, 1996) or Otar

Iosseliani (Brigands, chapitre VII, 1996).

In 2002, the filmmaker directs her first fiction, Depuis qu’Otar est parti…, a moving story reuniting three

generations of women, which gets her discovered by the public at large and recognized by her peers who

award her the Cesar for best first film. A few years later, after having tried to adapt Italo Calvino’s Le Baron

perché, she directs her second full-length fiction, L’Arbre, selected in official competition at the Cannes

Festival of 2010. An educational story about a death in the family, the film, directed in Australia with Charlotte

Gainsbourg, is the adaptation of the first novel by Judy Pascoe, L’Arbre du père.

Elected in 2013 as president of Scam (civil society of multimedia authors), Julie Bertuccelli returns to documentaries with School of Babel.

source: Prix Jean Renoir des lycéens

C) FILM SUMMARY

Rama, Felipe, Oksana, Xin, Youssef, Andromeda, Djenabou, Luca and their comrades were born all over

the world and have just arrived in France, in Paris. In middle school, they are sent to Brigitte Cervoni’s

welcoming class. In this class, they learn French quickly in order to be able to eventually continue their

education in their respective grades as well as the codes that rule social life in their new country. Their school

year, like other grades, is sprinkled with parent/teacher meetings, arguments, and moments of complicity.

But unexpected events occur too, such as Maryam’s sudden departure or the prize won at a school festival

of short films. This year finishes with the departure of Brigitte Cervoni, who puts an end to her career as a

teacher to become an education officer.

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II. TO WORK IN CLASS WITH THE FILM

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STUDENT WORKSHEET N°1: Discover the film through its poster

1. DESCRIBE AND ANALYZE THE POSTER

The picture

The title

The characters

The title

The reference

7 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

STUDENT WORKSHEET N°1: Discover the film through its poster

2. COMPARE WITH OTHER POSTERS

Franska för nybörjare –

French for Beginners

(Sweden)

School of Babel –

School of Babel

(United Kingdom)

Szkoła Babel –

School of Babel

(Poland)

a) Describe a poster of your choice.

b) Compare these posters with the French poster. What information can we get from them?

c) Which of the four posters do you prefer? Why?

3. IMAGINE THE STORY OF THE FILM

8 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

TEACHER WORKSHEET N°1: Discover the film through its poster

The picture

This poster presents the feature of not using a

photo, but a drawing instead, rendered by comic

book artist Christophe Blain. This poster genre

being generally used for animation films makes

students think that the film is a cartoon, especially

because of its colorful and almost childish style.

Incidentally, the theme represented could

reinforce this hypothesis: you actually see a photo

of the class, but with the students posing as if they

were making a pyramid.

Some suggestions :

– What type of picture is used for this poster?

– For what type of film is this type of picture usually used?

– What does this picture represent? What is

original about it?

The characters

Ten characters are seen on the poster; they all

seem to be adolescents. Only two boys are

identifiable among them, the third one only

showing the top half of his face in the background.

They are all wearing almost the same outfit, a T-

shirt, but a different color. Certain details come up,

however, like the scarf of the young girl in the

background or the bracelet of the one in the

forefront. This diversity can be seen on their faces

and their attitudes. Since no adult in present in this

class picture, we can imagine that this is a group

of friends.

Some suggestions :

– Describe each of the characters. How

many are there? Are there as many boys as

there are girls? How old are they? Are they

are all dressed the same? Do they all have

the same attitude?

The title

The title of the film is a word play between the

schoolyard (for recess) and the tower of Babel. In

reference to the biblical story, a “tower of Babel”,

in French, is a place where numerous languages

are spoken. The setting of the film is, therefore,

both school related and multicultural.

Some suggestions :

– What does the word “Babel” remind you of?

Can you narrate this Bible story?

1. DESCRIBE THE POSTER

For better visibility of details, it may be useful to download the poster

(http://fr.web.img5.acsta.net/pictures/14/03/10/10/19/568295.jpg) and show it in class with the help

of a projector.

In small groups, the students are encouraged to describe each of its elements.

All that is said may also be put on the worksheet.

9 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

TEACHER WORKSHEET N°1: Discover the film through its poster

The reference

This painting by Brueghel l’Ancien is one of the

most popular representations of the tower of

Babel. The pyramid layout of the characters on

the poster reminds us of the tower’s shape.

Some suggestions:

– What is the shape of the tower of Babel?

2. COMPARE WITH OTHER POSTERS

The three posters presented here show photos of

the film. You can see adolescents standing up or

cut off at the waist (Sweden), very close up

(United Kingdom), or close up (Poland and

Sweden). These adolescents are all presented in

different attitudes and poses, but they are more

contrasted here. On the British poster, for

example, the large smile of the first adolescent

precedes the tear shed by the second one.

Additionally, unlike the French poster where it is

only implied, the diversity of the characters’

origins is emphasized and reinforced here by the

multicolor background of the Polish and British

posters.

The scenery is at a school: a blackboard occupies

the center of the Swedish poster, an erased board

by the designer on which a student writes is on the

Polish poster. The British and Polish titles of the

film are more explicit than the French title in this

regard: instead of using a synecdoche, the word

“school” appears clearly in the title. But it’s the

Swedish version that seems the least ambiguous

with “French for Beginners”. We easily understand

that the film is about a class of foreign students in

France learning French, in other words, a

welcoming class.

Some suggestions:

– What do these posters show? What is the

scenery?

– Which body part(s) can we see?

– What do the foreign posters have in common?

– What do you think of translation of the titles?

– What do you understand better because of

these posters?

3. IMAGINE THE STORY OF THE FILM

With the help of the first elements provided by the study of the poster, you will ask the students to imagine

and write, alone or in groups of two, the story of the film and to present it in front of the class. If necessary,

you may clarify that this is about a documentary.

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STUDENT WORKSHEET N°2: Discover the film through its trailer

1. HOW DO YOU SAY “HELLO”?

Find the phrase each student uses.

добар дан (dobar dan)

Buenos días

(āyubōvan)

(as-salāmu ’alaikum)

ע לי כם

םם של (shālôm ’alêķem)

你好 (n�ı ha� o)

Добрий день

(dobryy den’)

حابص ريخلا

(sabah al-kheir)

2. WHY DO THEY GO TO FRANCE?

Complete the sentences.

She went to France to…

She went to France to…

She went to France to…

11 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

STUDENT WORKSHEET N°2: Discover the film through its trailer

3. THE BEST FRIEND

At the end of the trailer, a student says that his only friend is God. What does the

teacher reply? How do you interpret this reply?

12 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

TEACHER WORKSHEET N°2: Discover the film through its trailer

The trailer for this film is available for viewing and downloading at the following address:

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=19541945&cfilm=221636.html

1. HOW DO YOU SAY “HELLO’’?

Answers:

Добрий день (dobryy den’) 你好 (n�ı ha� o)

(āyubōvan) (sabah al-kheir) حابص ريخلا

Thanks to this icebreaker, we understand straightaway that the students in the film are foreign, or at least

of foreign origins. Perhaps certain students will have identified the languages spoken on the screen,

namely Ukrainian, Chinese, Arabic, and Sinhalese.

2. WHY DO THEY GO TO FRANCE?

Answers:

– Andromeda: She went to France to “build a future”; in other words, build a future for herself.

– Ramatoulaye: She went to France to “become a free woman”.

– Xin: She went to France to live with her mother. She hadn’t seen her for ten years.

You may encourage the students to think about what brings these three accounts together. All the young

girls interviewed are foreign and had just arrived in France. How did they imagine their lives before going

to France?

13 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

TEACHER WORKSHEET N°2: Discover the film through its trailer

3. THE BEST FRIENDS

A young girl in all likelihood of Africa origin appears on several occasions throughout this trailer. She

takes the floor frequently (being one of those who best masters French), but she also finds problems…

She affirms, in fact, that she doesn’t get along with anyone in class, except for God, to which her teacher

replies that God “is not in the class”. Without having to mention the concept of secularism, you may

encourage the students to think about what this reply means, keeping in mind that religion, whichever it

may be, has no place in a school in France except as a topic of study (Literature, History, etc...).

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STUDENT WORKSHEET N°3: Recreate the story of the film

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. REORDER THE SCENES CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Fill out the table below using the letters of each scene.

A B

C D

E F

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STUDENT WORKSHEET N°3: Recreate the story of the film

2. DESCRIBE THE MAIN MOMENTS OF THE FILM

Describe the pictures.

Why are they important?

16 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

TEACHER WORKSHEET N°3: Recreate the story of the film

1. REORDER THE SCENES CHRONOLOGICALLY

Answers:

1 2 3 4 5 6

E D A F B C

2. DESCRIBE THE MAIN MOMENTS OF THE FILM

The students are encouraged to describe, alone or in groups of two, each scene. The more advanced

students may be encouraged to write their description instead.

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STUDENT WORKSHEET N°4: Study the characters of the film

1. IDENTIFY THE CHARACTERS

Cut out the tags and paste them underneath the corresponding characters.

Djenabou

Guinea

Luca

North Ireland

Abir

Tunisia

Xin

China

Felipe

Chile

Andromeda

Romania

Ramatoulaye

Mauritania

La professeure

France

Mihajlo

Serbia

Maryam

Libya

18 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

STUDENT WORKSHEET N°4: Study the characters of the film

2. MAKE A PROFILE FOR ONE OF THE STUDENTS

Where does he/she come from? Why did he/she go to France? What is his/her personality like? What

are his/her grades in school? What problems does he/she have at school or at home?

3. THE OTHER STUDENTS

What do you know about these other students?

Agnieszka

Poland

Daniil

Belarussia

Eduardo

Brazil

Kessa

Great Britain

Miguel

Venezuela

Naminata

The Ivory Coast

Oksana

Ukraine

Yong

China

Youssef

Morocco

From among all the students presented here, who could you be friends with? Why?

4. WRITE AN EMAIL TO THE STUDENTS OF THE WELCOMING CLASS

Since she left for Verdun, Maryam has not seen her classmates. She sends them an email to tell them

all that has changed in her life since she moved. Imagine what she feels and write the email she sends

them.

19 Educational guide· SCHOOL OF BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

TEACHER WORKSHEET N°4: Study the characters of the film

1. IDENTIFY THE CHARACTERS

Answers:

Mihajlo

He is Serbian and of

Jewish origin. His family

was persecuted in his

country and fled to

France. He is more or

less calm, but his

grades are not that good

because he doesn’t

work enough. In fact, he

has to take care of his

parents’ refugee claim

and doesn’t have time to

do his homework.

Djenabou

She is Guinean and

went to France

to receive a francophone

education. She lives with

a cousin who explains to

her that if she returns to

Guinea, she risks being

circumcised. Talkative,

she is very emotional and

cries easily, she gets

angry or enthusiastic

very easily. Her behavior

sometimes gets her to

stay after class with the

teacher and explain

herself.

The teacher

She is rarely on screen and

we don’t really know much

about her, except that she

seems to be very patient

and devoted to her

students, whom she helps

as much as she can.

Felipe

He is Chilean and

followed his mother to

France. His mother fell in

love with a French man

and decided to live with

him in Paris.

He is passionate about

drawing and drew a

comic book. He refuses

to speak French at

home so he won’t forget

his maternal language,

Spanish.

Maryam

She is Libyan, but

lived in Egypt.

Her family submitted

a refugee claim

in France. She is

extroverted, doesn’t

hesitate to take the floor

even though she doesn’t

speak very well. She has

to leave Paris in the

course of the year

because her family was

sent to bigger housing in

Verdun. In Paris, they

live in a

small apartment.

Andromeda

She is Romanian and

decided to follow her father,

who works in France, rather

than stay with her mother.

Ambitious and sure of

herself, she has very good

grades, making her the pride

of her father. However,

because he often works

outside of Paris,

she frequently has to take

care of things herself.

Abir

She is Tunisian, but we don’t

really know why she went to

France. She comes from a

very conservative family and

her parents forbid her to go to

Chartres. Rather reserved,

she has difficulties with the

French language and her

family is considering sending

her to a Arabic-speaking

school.

Xin

She is Chinese and she

went to rejoin her mother

in France. She hadn’t

seen her in ten years.

Timid, she has better

grades in writing than in

oral. Unhappy upon her

arrival, she evolves in the

course of the year. Since

her mother works in a

restaurant,

she often has to take

care of things

herself.

Luca

He comes from North

Ireland. His mother lost her

job in 2008 due to the crisis

and went to France. He has

bad grades in Science, which

his mother believes is due to

light autism.

Ramatoulaye

She is Mauritanian

and came to join her

mother whom she hadn’t

seen in thirteen years. In

her country, she lived with

her father who didn’t want

her to be educated.

Impulsive, she runs into

some disciplinary problems

at school.

2. MAKE A PROFILE FOR ONE OF THE STUDENTS

Individually or in groups of two, the students are encouraged to present one of the students in the film

with the help of some notes if needed. The necessary information for this exercise are summarized in the

table on the previous page.

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TEACHER WORKSHEET N°4: Study the characters of the film

3. THE OTHER STUDENTS

Agnieszka

She is Polish and brought with her

a small tree from her country that

has been passed down in her

family generation to generation.

Very emotional – she cries as

often as Djenabou, Oksana’s best

friend.

Daniil

He is Belarussian and had to

leave his country hastily. An

applied student, he participates in

class and sometimes serves as

interpreter for his Slavic

classmates Oksana et Agnieszka

since they don’t know how to

express certain things.

Eduardo

He is Brazilian and has joined his

parents in France. In Brazil, he

lived with his grandparents, went

to church a lot, and was in the

scouts. He is often seen next to

Andromeda.

Kessa

She is British and her mother sent

her to France to her aunt’s so she

could learn French well. She

dreams of becoming a model.

Miguel

He is Venezuelan and went to France

to study at the conservatory.

Violoncellist, he sometimes practiced

for nine hours a day to be accepted in

Paris.

Naminata

She is Ivorian. Christian evangelist,

she took a bible to class as a good

luck charm. Talkative, she is one of

those who best master French.

Oksana

She is Ukrainian and dreams of

becoming a singer, not

hesitating to hit the high notes in

front of her classmates. She is

often accompanied by her friend

Agnieszka.

Yong

He is Chinese and arrives in the

course of the year. He doesn’t seem

to have a lot of trouble and Math

seems “too easy” for him. He

sometimes serves as an interpreter

for Xin.

Youssef

He is Moroccan and was sent to

France by his family to get a good

education. He can’t wait to get in an

“ordinary” class and anticipates

being an architect.

The students are then encouraged to choose from the eighteen students in the welcoming class the one

who they could be friends with motivating their choice.

4. WRITE AN EMAIL TO THE STUDENTS OF THE WELCOMING CLASS

With the help of the information developed in the previous activities, the students are encouraged to write

the short message that Maryam would have addressed to her classmates at the welcoming class. Having

left her friends in the course of the year, she would write about her new life in Verdun with her whole

family in a new apartment and at her new middle school.

21 Educational guide· LA COUR DE BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

III. TO GO EVEN FURTHER

A) THE HIGH SCHOOL IN THE FILM

The school setting has always inspired cinema in France and in all genres, from Zéro de conduite to Entre

les murs, including P.R.O.F.S. and La guerre des boutons. In the course of the last fifteen years, in a country

prey to perpetual interrogations on the pertinence and efficacy of its education system, the films having as

settings high schools, middle schools, or elementary schools have won a vivid public acclaim, be it fictions

such as Entre les murs (1,600,000 admissions), L’esquive (600,000 admissions) or documentaries such as

Être et avoir (1,500,000 admissions). Even others, without reaching these records, echoed greatly in society

like La journée de la jupe or School of Babel, which earned its directors and all the students in the class an

invitation to l’Élysée. However, where other films show other sides of the school setting, this documentary

posts almost everything (pool, test center, Chartres), a total unity of place since only the classroom is shown,

with a few views of the schoolyard to mark the passing of the school year.

A B

C D IDEAS FOR ACTIVITIES

– The images showing the middle school schoolyard punctuate the course of the film. They evoke its title,

but allow us, above all, to see the passing of time. As a class, the students are encouraged to describe

each image and place them in the chronological order of the school year (for example, D-B-C-A). What

could this tree symbolize? With the help of some vocabulary available on the site

https://www.institutfrancais.de/cinefete/IMG/pdf/CINEFETE16_Petit-lexique.pdf, you may also ask them

about the shots and the perspectives, particularly in shot A, the last one of the film, where the view from

up high is abandoned to adopt the point of view of the students and show the schoolyard empty during

vacation time.

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– The shots that show the schoolyard, having

mainly an illustrative value, the film’s essential

action takes place in Brigitte Cervoni’s classroom.

With the help of the image to the right, you may

ask the students about the possible features of

this classroom (which it doesn’t have, other than

some maps and border strips on the walls since it

seems to be used for History-Geography) and

mainly about the fact that this is the one that is

always used when others students change

classrooms for each class and that their

classroom may change in the course of the year.

You may also ask them if it is used for anything

other than the class (meetings with parents,

screening of a short film). Apart from practical

reasons (presence of a film crew, even if it is

narrow), this set space serves as a landmark for

adolescents who do not have one because they

just arrived to a new country.

– The classroom serves as refuge from the mockery of students from others classes, the question of

accents, and difficulties expressing themselves often coming up, but also from environments allowing to

forge apt students to face the French school system. In the final scene, Djenabou compares her going to

a welcoming class with being born again while Xin thinks of the teacher “as a mother”. You may ask the

more advanced students, in small groups, to write about the configuration of welcoming classes

(enrollment, subjects taught, duration of the program, etc.) based on the information they obtained from

the film and completing it with research from francophone websites. They may also be encouraged to do

research on an equivalent program in their country, in fact, in their school and compare it to what they

have learned about the French school system.

B) ANALYSIS OF A SCENE

The table below is for the students. It contains the most important images of a scene. Each image is

accompanied by a series of questions which guide the students to elaborate the analysis of this sequence.

Before doing this exercise, it is preferable to hand out “Le petit lexique du cinema” to the students, available

on the site: https://www.institutfrancais.de/cinefete/IMG/pdf/CINEFETE16_Petit-lexique.pdf. Refer to it for

the terms containing an asterisk.

Instructions for the analysis of the beginning of scene n°10 (65th minute of the film)

– After having watched this scene a first time, hand out the table to the students (fold the paper in a way that

the answers cannot be seen).

– Read the questions and watch the clip as many times as necessary to answer them.

– Pause on images where the shots are longer and contain camera movement.

– Have them answer orally, then in writing.

23 Educational guide· LA COUR DE BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

IMAGE QUESTIONS POSSIBLE ANSWERS

1

– Describe the image.

– Which perspective is

used?

– How is the sound?

We see here a long shot* in low-angle shot*.

This way, the building seems more

impressive. It is a diegetic sound off screen*:

we hear the students who are at the foot of

the test center.

3

– Describe the image.

– What type of shot is

used?

– How is the sound?

Here, the director uses medium long shot*.

We can see part of the decor and recognize

the characters at the same time. The

diegetic sound is on screen* even if we

cannot see the characters move their lips.

5

– Describe the image.

– What type of shot is

used?

– How is the camera

placed?

We have here a full shot* which lets us

follow the characters’ movements. The

camera is placed on the shoulder and gives

the impression of dynamism; the spectator

is at the heart of the action.

7

– Describe the image.

– What type of shot is

used?

– What point of view do

we adopt?

The director uses at present a medium

shot*. Placed on the shoulder, the camera

adopts a subjective point of view, that of a

student rushing to get to her exam room on

time.

8

– Describe the image.

– What type of shot is

used?

– What movement is

the camera making?

We find a new medium shot at the entrance

of the classroom. The camera operates a

panoramic shot* in order to show the tense

faces of the DELF test takers.

10

– Describe the image.

– What movement is

the camera making?

In a medium shot*, Rama looks among the

tables for her seat. The camera leaves her

bit by bit using a zoom back*. The

spectator’s view leaves the characters bit by

bit.

11

– Describe the image.

What type of shot is

used?

The director resorts to a long shot* in which

the characters we had been following before

are drowned in the crowd. The middle path

and its view give the action a certain

formality.

13

– Describe the image.

What type of shot is

used?

– What point of view do

we adopt?

It is roughly the same shot as n°11, a long

shot, but a difference close by, a man in the

forefront closes the door. The spectator is in

the place of the teacher who sees his

students take the DELF.

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C) SUMMARY OF THE FILM BY SCENE

N° OF

SCENE

TIMING DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE

1 00:00:00 Opening credits: Maryam presents herself at the black board. Another student

corrects her mistakes.

2 00:02:10 Countries of origin: The students take turns saying how they say “hello” in their

language. They then say how they spent their last day in their country.

3 00:09:55 Meeting with the parents (1): The teacher meets with Ramatoulaye’s mother,

Felipe’s mother, and Xin’s to explain their problems.

4 00:15:20 The problems: At the pool, Rama forgets her cap and stays at the edge. The students

explain the difficulties they have with other students.

5 00:22:16 Meeting with the parents (2): The teacher meets with Andromeda’s father and

Djenabou’s cousin.

6 00:27:55 The short film: Andromeda, Mihajlo, Kessa, Xin, and Rama tell their stories. Miguel

plays the violoncello for the class.

7 00:35:34 Maryam’s departure: Maryam has to leave Paris hastily. Djenabou argues with Kessa

and has to explain herself to the teacher.

8 00:44:04 Good luck charms: Each student presents an item that represents him/her. The class

then debates the importance of religion for each of them. A new student joins the group,

Yong.

9 00:56:53 Meeting with the parents (3): The teacher meets with one of Abir’s parents, Luca’s

mother, and Mihajlo’s mother to discuss their difficulties.

10 01:05:09 The DELF and the Chartres Festival: The whole class takes the DELF at a test center.

Their short film is then shown to the parents. At Chartres, the students win a prize for

this film.

11 01:15:36 End of the year: The teacher announces that Rama has to repeat the class, but Rama

refuses. She then said her goodbye to the class because she won’t teach anymore.

12 01:26:35 Closing credits: The students leave the school for vacation, the schoolyard is empty.

25 Educational guide· LA COUR DE BABEL by Julie Bertuccelli

D) SITOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE FILM

https://fr-fr.facebook.com/lacourdebabel

http://medias.myfrenchfilmfestival.com/medias/127/201/117119/presse/la-cour-de-babel-dossier-de-

presse-francais.pdf http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=221636.html

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2014/03/11/la-cour-de-babel-des-ados-unis-dans-la-

diversite_4380777_3246.html

http://next.liberation.fr/cinema/2014/03/14/la-cour-de-babel-une-langue-histoire_987163

TRAINING GUIDES

http://www.zerodeconduite.net/dp/zdc_lacourdebabel.pdf

https://www.ac-strasbourg.fr/fileadmin/pedagogie/clemi/cour_de_Babel_dossier_peda_

clemiStrasbourg.pdf

http://eduscol.education.fr/prix-jean-renoir-des-lyceens/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PR_Cour_de_

Babel.pdf

http://www.e-media.ch/documents/showFile.asp?ID=5775

http://www.enfancesdanslemonde.com/fiches/fiche_pedagogique_la_cour_de_babel.pdf

http://www.filmtage-tuebingen.de/fft-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/La-cour-de-Babel.

pdf

ABOUT WELCOMING CLASSES https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classe_d%27accueil_%28France%29

http://cache.media.education.gouv.fr/file/2012/53/2/DEPP-NI-2012-01-eleves-nouveaux-arrivants-

non-francophones_209532.pdf

http://www.clg-galois-nanterre.ac-versailles.fr/spip.php?article225

http://www.cahiers-pedagogiques.com/Classes-d-accueil-la-fin-d-un-dispositif-qui-fonctionne

SHORT-LENGTH FILM ABOUT THE STUDENTS OF THE WELCOMING CLASS

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xruqob_l-enfant-lune_creation