CinéSchool’s Recommendations of French Back-to-School Films for Young Cinephiles

Through this collection, young cinephiles will find stories that turn the back-to-school blues into chances for adventure, new friendships, and fun surprises along the way.

On the Way to School (Sur le chemin de l’ecole)
Directed by Pascal Plisson, Documentary, 2012, 1h17, PG, France / recommended for ages 8+

The children depicted in this film live in the four corners of the globe and all share the same desire to learn. They’ve understood that only education will allow them to improve their lives, and it’s for this reason that, each day, they set out on highly risky journeys, through extraordinary landscapes, on their quest for knowledge.

11-year-old Jackson lives in Kenya and, every morning and evening, he and his younger sister walk nine and a half miles across the savannah populated by wild animals. 12-year-old Zahira lives in the steep Atlas Mountains. It takes her and her two friends an exhausting day of walking to reach their boarding school.

13-year-old Samuel lives in India. The two and half miles he must traverse each day are a challenge because his legs are paralyzed. His two younger brothers push his makeshift wheelchair for more than an hour in order to get to school. 11-year-old Carlito crosses the Patagonian plains on horseback, accompanied by his younger sister. Each day the pair travel 11 miles back and forth, no matter the weather.

On the Way to School allows us to share the extraordinary daily lives of these children, whose determination coupled with a dream leads them down a path that we have all taken, but never quite in this way.

Available on Hoopla | Kanopy | Amazon Prime | Youtube | Google Play | Tubi | Fandango at home | Plex | Apple TV | Fawesome.TV

Ozie Boo! Save The Planet (Ozie Boo! Protege ta planète)
Preschool TV Show / Recommended for ages 2+

A soft and entertaining introduction to ecology for preschoolers with an optimistic touch and high-quality, real world images. The Ozie Boo Team goes to school like all children around the world… but their school is the Nature School. The “Ozie School,” built completely out of ice and ice cubes, with frozen benches and pristine desks, is the North Pole school where Nelly, Ned, Fred, Ted, and Ed, our energetic and curious little penguins, ask the same questions all children ask, with four major themes: pollution, natural resources and the climate, species in danger, and protection of the planet.

Available on Amazon Prime France Channel | The Roku Channel | Apple TV | Vimeo

The Class (Entre les murs)
Directed by Laurent Cantet, Fiction-Drama, 2008, 2h08, PG-13, France / recommended for ages 16+

François is a young French literature teacher of a class of teenagers in a rough school. He doesn’t hesitate from engaging in stimuating verbal battles with Esmeralda, Souleymane, Khoumba, and the others, as though language itself were truly at stake. But learning to understand democracy can sometimes entail real risks.

Available on Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Fandango at home | Google Play | YouTube

Zero for Conduct (Zéro de Conduite)
Directed by Jean Vigo, Comedy-Fiction, 1932, 44 minutes, France / recommended for ages 10+

In a repressive boarding school with strict rules of conduct, four boys decide to rebel against the administration on a celebratory day.

Available on The Criterion Channel | Watch TCM

Api !
Preschool TV show, recommended for ages 6+

Api is a hardworking and disciplined student. We follow her and her classmates throughout their school years via different situations that help them grow up.

Available on TV5 Monde

School of Babel (La Cour de Babel)
Directed by Julie Bertuccelli, Documentary-Coming-of-age story, 2013, 1h29, France, recommended for ages 13+

They’ve just arrived in France. They are Irish, Serbian, Brazilian, Tunisian, Chinese, and Senegalese. During a year, Julie Bertuccelli filmed the exchanges, conflicts, and joys of a group of students between the ages of 11 and 15 years old, who all attend the same class to learn French. In this small theater of the world, the innocence, energy, and contradictions of these adolescents are expressed. Driven by the same desire to change their lives, these students challenge many established ideas about youth and integration, and give us hope for the future.

Available on Amazon Prime | Apple TV | OVID

Games of Love and Chance (L’Esquive)
Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, Fiction-Drama-Romance, 2003, 1h57, France, recommended for ages 16+

An angel passes through the high-rise housing projects on the outskirts of Paris, enthusiastically reciting dialogue from Marivaux. Her name is Lydia and she’s rehearsing The Game of Love and Chance, her class show for the school festival. Abdelkrim, known as Krimo, 15-years strong, falls for his classmate. He’s used to hanging out in the maze of the projects, loitering with his buddies, when suddenly he’s in love. But Krimo isn’t one to talk and he has a reputation to uphold: just how is he going to declare his love to Lydia without losing face? There’s only one solution: bribe his friend Rachid, Lydia’s stage partner, and take his place in the role of Arlequin. Marivaux’s words will say what Krimo dares not avow. But this smart idea becomes a major battle for Krimo, who’s horrified to discover the amount of text he must learn by heart and by his French teacher’s implacable demands. Will Krimo find the words he needs to say before rumor, jealousy, and enmity make things go sour?

Available on Amazon Prime France Channel

Small Change (L’Argent de poche)
Directed by François Truffaut, Fiction-Drama, 1975, 1h44, PG, France, recommended for ages 10+

In the town of Thiers, in the summer of 1976, teachers and parents give their children skills, love, and attention. A teacher has his first child, a single mother hopes to meet Mr. Right, another mom reaches out to Patrick, a motherless lad who is just discovering the opposite sex. Patrick befriends Julien, a new student who lives in poverty with his mother and has a terrible secret. Bruno shows his friends how to chat up girls. Sylvie stages a witty protest against her parents. Brothers give a friend a haircut. A toddler falls from a window and is unhurt. Everybody goes to the cinema. At camp, Martine catches Patrick’s eye. A teacher explains: “Life is hard, but it’s wonderful.”

Available on Screenpix The Roku Channel | Screenpix Amazon Video

A Town Called Panic: Back To School Panic! (Panique au village : la rentrée des classes)
Directed by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, Animation, 2016, 27 minutes, France-Belgium, recommended for ages 6+

Cowboy and Indian are all ready to take off on an extravagant luxury cruise, but they totally forgot that today’s the first day of school! So long exotic islands.

Available on Tubi | Fandango at home

To Be and to Have (Être et avoir)
Directed by Nicolas Philibert, Documentary, 2001, 1h44, France, recommended for ages 10+

There still exists, dotted throughout rural France, one-room schools where all local children, ranging from 3 to 10, are taught by the same teacher in a single class.
At times withdrawn, and other times embracing life, these kids share daily life, for better or for worse. This film was made in one of these schools, somewhere in the heart of the Auvergne region.

Available on Kino Film Collection | Kanopy | Hoopla | The Roku Channel

Swagger
Directed by Olivier Babinet, Documentary, 2016, 1h24, France, recommended for ages 15+

Swagger takes us into the minds of eleven children and teenagers with astonishing personalities who are growing up in some of France’s most underprivileged housing projects. The film shows us the world through their singular and unexpected gaze, as well as their funny and profound thoughts.

Available on Amazon Prime France Channel | The Roku Channel | Apple TV

Find Me in Paris (Léna – Rêve d’étoile)
Directed by Matt Bloom, Robert Burke and Ronan Burke, Fiction-Teen TV series, 2018, TVPG, France-Germany, recommended for ages 11+

Find Me in Paris is a premium tween drama centering on Lena Grisky, a typical teenage girl attending the Paris Opera Ballet School, the most elite dance institution in the world. But Lena has a secret. She’s a time traveler, accidentally propelled from 1905 into the 21st century by her boyfriend Henri. Stuck in the past, Henri does everything he can to find a way to bring her home. Meanwhile, Lena tries to fit in, juggling high school and rigorous ballet training. She even becomes a member of an elite underground dance crew, the BLOK, all while trying to keep her secret. With a unique mix of ballet, contemporary dance, comedy, and drama, Find Me in Paris is a high-end dramedy shot on location in some of the most iconic sites in Paris with a stellar international cast.

Available on Netflix | Hulu | Apple TV