Amal

Good film, but heavy: there aren't many respite scenes. Lubna Azabal is truly excellent. Good game also from Kenza Benboutcha who presents a very nuanced game. It's hard-hitting, but the subject is not treated much differently from several other films dealing with the same subject released in recent years, except, perhaps, the time taken to expose the sociological thoughts of the protagonists. Jawad Rhalib's production aims to be overwhelming, shocking, instructive and awareness-raising: it is successful. One thing is certain: we wouldn't want to be in this class. It is a film that must be seen by as many people as possible, in the hope that individuals in our current society are not locked into a speech of the deaf.

I saw the film in Cluj at the 2024 Transilvania International Film Festival - TIFF Romania - and I was so impressed by the film that all I can do is recommend it to everyone. It s not an easy one, but a hard one who gives you thoughts for home. What have we done wrong? So, there she is, a really idealistic literature teacher in a suburban neighborhood in a Bruxelles school. She seems to get into trouble and becomes the target of an intense hostile group of students and also some teachers connected to Islamic extremism. During the hostilities the passionate teacher decides to help a Muslim teenager accused of homosexuality by her colleagues. Unfortunately things are taking on an increasingly strange and dangerous direction, in an unfair war.

Saw this at the 2023 filmfestival in Ghant (Belgium). To begin, I must admit starting on the wrong foot for at least the first half of the running time. I felt a bit disconnected with the story: is there something they want to tell us?? It is very regrettable indeed that religious fanatism and fundamentalism has an overwhelming influence on many people, so much that they go at every length to threaten or even eliminate those who do not believe. My initial problem with the story at hand was that I assumed wrongly that the filmmakers tried to inform us that people exist who put Quran and Sharia above national laws, and thus ignore what we deem normal (we call it "civilized") to be tolerant against other beliefs. I stand corrected now, knowing that they were not preaching.

Further, now on a positive note. What took me on, firstly, was the believable cast and evenso believable circumstances within the school, wherein a considerable part of the story takes place. Ditto for the parents and the neighborhood, which can be situated in any large city in any country. For me, the developments got real traction due to some unexpected turns of events that kept the story afloat and myself interested in the proceedings.

Secondly, what also took me on were the growing dilemmas for teachers and school director, becoming more complicated in each subsequent meeting. Fundamental questions are becoming manifest and move the story forward, alas without an obvious way out. Those meetings involved me deeply in what happened, also showing us how difficult it is to decide about a balanced approach to the issues on the agenda.

Thirdly, we also witness the strong influence of social media. Not only direct threats matter here. Also that everyone is talking about you, without knowing the real facts but still forming opinions that spread like wildfire. It is easy to Like a posting, even when not fully agreeing with it, can be done quickly without a second thought. Moreover, writing a negative text is also very easy, amplified by the anonymity that goes with unverified accounts. It all adds up to an unmitigated media storm. Before Internet we had the church yard, the butcher store and the pub to exchange gossip, no we have a much faster means with larger coverage and speed.

There is no happy ending, however, assumably a Mission Impossible given the circumstances. It leaves us with no solution, but is there any??

All in all, not a documentary to demonstrate that fundamentalists become more and more a problem, as now I'm sure the filmmakers know we knew already. It is a real-world story in and around a real-world school, genuine teachers, and genuine pupils with families at home that are also involved. We see believable characters in their respective roles, even the unsympathetic roles.

Although this is extremely difficult to watch almost through the whole movie it reeks of truth and of what has happened and what is happening and what will keep happening because of extremists in our world which otherwise could and should be blissful allowing for everyone to exist in their own way who they are and who they want to be and what they want to believe in without others making their beliefs which is all they are out to be the only ones this is a movie that shows what has happened and what is happening and what will continue to happen if even a tiny bit of this is allowed to continue, the acting is great, the message is clear and obvious, what need be done?, I think you can figure it out!, and it explains how many many people so many people in the world are moving in the direction they are as a reaction and a response to people such as those depicted here, terrible as it is it's a horrible truth that pervades us in the form of intolerance, it's even starting to spread in other forms and through people we would never have expected as a few insist on determining what can and can be said or what in there sordid minds is how we must live, not me, I am free!