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To Be and to Have

Original title: Être et avoir

“An observation of the humanity of young people.”

2002 · 1 h 44 min
Directed by Nicolas Philibert
DocumentaryFamily

Cast

Georges Lopez Nathalie Lopez

Credits

Produced by: Gilles Sandoz

Plot

The film follows a year in a one-classroom village school in the Auvergne, where a teacher, Georges Lopez, in his last year before retirement, teaches thirteen pupils aged four to twelve. Through the seasons, we see lessons, small quarrels and the pupils' growth. Nicolas Philibert's 2002 documentary was a surprise success in France.

Sinekatalog’s take

Nicolas Philibert's documentary spends a year in a one-room Auvergne school with a gentle teacher. Warm, observant and quietly moving, it became a surprise hit for its patient look at childhood.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

Ratings

IMDb: 7.8 / 10 (8,787 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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