Playground
Ajyal Competition - Ajyal Film Festival 2021
Laura Wandel / Belgium / 2021 / 72 min / Colour / DCP / In French / Arabic, English subtitles
Themes: Drama
Rated: 
Parental guidance is advised for viewers under the age of 13. Individuals under the age of 13 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or older.
Description
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.
Director
Laura Wandel
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
- Screenwriter
- Laura Wandel
- Producer
- Stéphane Lhoest
- Cinematographer
- Frédéric Noirhomme
- Editor
- Nicolas Rumpl
- Cast
- Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Karim Leklou, Laura Verlinden