Once in a Lifetime

Les Héritiers

DIRECTOR:  Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar COUNTRY: France   YEAR: 2014   LANGUAGE(S): French SUBTITLES: German   RUNNING TIME: 105 min

SECTION: Previews at Cinecittà 2015, Open Eyes 2015

SYNOPSIS

A history project about the France in WW II in a difficult school not only changes the schoolchildren’s view of French history, but also becomes a radical experience for their teacher.

Anne Gueguen starts teaching Grade 11 at the Leon Blum lycée in the Paris suburb of Créteil. She is a committed teacher but the kids pose many challenges because they bring their personal and cultural conflicts into class. She can feel that there is more to them than obstinacy and she registers the class for a competition about children in the Holocaust. In doing so, she inspires in her pupils an interest to learn – about history and themselves…

In this film based on a true story, the director Marie-Castille Mention-Schar tells a deeply moving story about integration and the happiness that exists in community. A powerful, bellicose film with wonderful actors and full of hope!

MARIE-CASTILLE MENTION-SCHAAR

Screenwriter, director and producer, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar created the production company Vendredi Film with Pierre Kubel and Frédéric Bourboulon. They have produced several films since the early 2000s. In 2012, she made her first film, the romantic and melodrama­tic MA PREMIÈRE FOIS, which was inspired by her first love. The same year, she released BOWLING with Catherine Frot and Mathilde Seigner. In her third feature, ONCE IN A LIFETIME (2014), Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar found her inspiration once again from a real-life story.

FILMOGRAPHY
Triff die Elisabeths! (2009), Meine erste Liebe (2012), Willkommen in der Bretagne (2012), Die Schüler der Madame Anne (2014)

SCRIPT:  Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Ahmed Dramé  PRODUCERS:  Pierre Kubel, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar CAMERA: Myriam Vinocour   EDITOR:  Benoît Quinon  MUSIC: Ludovico Einaudi    CAST Ariane Ascaride, Ahmed Dramé, Noémie Merlant, Geneviève Mnich

PRODUCTION: Loma Nasha / Vendredi Films   WORLD SALES: UGC Distribution  GERMAN DISTRIBUTOR: Neue Visionen Filmverleih Gmbh