InRO Weekly — Volume 1, Issue 10

FESTIVAL COVERAGE
screenings. While it’s YA in scope, Neneh-Fanta Gnaoré’s (Oumy
Bruni Garrel) story — directed by Ramzi Ben Sliman — is both
heartfelt and bitterly honest about the truth behind so many
lauded institutions. She dreams of becoming a ballet dancer,
something that shows in her every movement on the playground,
teeming with energy. Dreaming of the Opera de Paris Ballet
School, she hasn’t quite contended with the precise nature of
that school’s mission. Her supportive parents (Steve Tientcheu
and Aïssa Maïga) encourage this dream, though her working-class
background outside of Paris puts her at odds with the wealthy
student body of young ballerinas with private tutors, and that’s
well before race comes into play. Even once she’s admitted, just
one of seven girls in a vast sea of hopefuls, school head Marianne
Belage (Maïwenn) reminds her that she is here to be challenged —
which is a lot of weight to put on a child’s shoulders.
Garrel, in her first role in a feature not directed by one of her
actor-director parents, often comes off as a bigger star than the
rising talent she plays. She's incredibly kinetic, always in motion
even when preteen restlessness hurdles away from a dancer's
grace; cocky and not quite in control of her own growing body. A
young performance can make or break a film, and her
commitment means that her wide-eyed admiration for a director
she wants to be her mentor and the power struggles that
subsequently ensue between student and teacher make the two
parties into equals in their intensity.
From an American perspective, the overt nature of the school’s
institutional racism seems a bit overtly presented, but the
cultural difference does prevent more covert forms of prejudice
from taking the lead. When filling out applications, the girls are
reminded to list many details about their parents, down to height
and weight (in order to extrapolate the not-yet-grown children’s
physical development, and therefore, their worthiness), which
serves as a reminder that they do not get to leave their
backgrounds behind for their talent. Aggressors are punished
less severely than Neneh when she finally fights back, and she is
admonished by being blatantly excluded from a chance to lead in
the class production of Snow White. Marianne subscribes to a
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