Playground (Un Monde)
Ajyal Competition, Ajyal at Vox
Laura Wandel / Feature Narrative / Belgium / 2021 / 72 min / Colour / DCP
In French / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Drama
MENA Premiere
Synopsis
7-year-old Nora and her big brother Abel are back to school. When Nora witnesses Abel being bullied, she rushes to protect him by warning their father. But Abel forces her to remain silent. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora must ultimately try to find her place, torn between the worlds of childhood and adulthood—each with its own set of paradoxical rules. A powerfully authentic look at the micro-society of a schoolyard, ‘Playground’ shows us the realities of growing up and the integration of the self in broader society.
About the Directors
Laura Wandel was born in 1984 in Belgium, where she studied filmmaking at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD). Her graduation film, ‘Murs’, was selected for many festivals around the world. Wandel’s first professional short film was ‘O Négatif’ (2010), followed by ‘Les corps étrangers’ (2014). ‘Playground (Un Monde)’ is her debut feature and won the FIPRESCI Prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival 2021.
Credits
- Director
- Laura Wandel
- Screenwriter
- Laura Wandel
- Producer
- Stéphane Lhoest
- Editor
- Nicolas Rumpl
- Co-Producer
- Jan de Clercq
- Cinematographer
- Frédéric Noirhomme
- Sales Company
- Indie Sales
- Sound
- Thomas Grimm-Landsberg
- Distributor
- Indie Sales
- Cast
- Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Karim Leklou, Laura Verlinden