in Puy-de-Dôme, Nicolas Philibert’s documentary school keeps its two classes

In 2002, Nicolas Philibert’s documentary, which won the Louis Delluc Prize, focused on the village school which then had only one class.

A small Auvergne village learned with a “extreme relief” maintaining the two classes at his school, which became famous with the documentary To be and to Have, one of which was threatened with closure, indicated its mayor on Friday February 16. “It’s happiness for us, for the territory, maintaining class is a good thing,” Lionel Chanimbaud, mayor of Saint-Etienne-sur-Usson, a town of 260 inhabitants located in Puy-de-Dôme, told AFP.

The rectorate planned to close one of the two classes at the start of the school year, but its maintenance was decided Thursday evening during a meeting of the Departmental Council of National Education (CDEN), according to the councilor, who confirmed information from the regional daily The mountain. One of the classes educates children from nursery to CP, while the other welcomes students from CE1 to CM2. Asked by AFP, the rectorate did not respond.

The then unique class of the village

Nicolas Philibert’s documentary, dedicated to the then unique class of the village, was presented at Cannes in 2002 and won the Louis Delluc prize – best French film – and numerous others, while attracting nearly two million spectators in theaters .

About ten years ago, a second class was opened, but a drop in children registered for the 2024 school year threatened it.

Saluting “a huge surge of solidarity” having brought together the inhabitants of the village and surrounding areas and the parents of the 19 students currently in the school, its director Marlène Baduel underlined “the extreme relief of all” after the reversal of the rectorate. “Our students will be able to continue learning in good conditions”she said.