27/43

I saw this at the 2023 Ghent Film Festival (Belgium)

Brussels teacher Amal encourages her students’ passion for reading and freedom of expression, despite the risks. Her bold approach leaves a mark on students and families. To begin with, I must admit that I got off on the wrong foot, at least for the first half of the running time. I felt a little disconnected from the story: is there something they want to tell us? It is indeed very unfortunate that religious fanaticism and fundamentalism have a huge influence on many people, to the point that they do everything they can to intimidate or even eliminate those who do not believe.

Also, now on a positive note

My initial problem with the story in question was that I wrongly assumed that the filmmakers were trying to inform us that there are people who put the Quran and Sharia above national laws and therefore disregard what we consider normal (we call “civilized”) .tolerant of other beliefs. Now I'm correcting myself, knowing that they weren't preaching. What grabbed me, first of all, was the believable cast and still believable circumstances of the school where a significant portion of the story takes place. The same goes for the parents and the neighborhood, which could be found in any major city in any country. For me, the development really picked up speed due to some unexpected twists that kept the story afloat and kept me interested in the events.

It's not just direct threats that matter here

Second, what also grabbed me were the growing dilemmas facing the teachers and the school principal, which became more complicated with each subsequent meeting. Fundamental questions emerge and drive the story forward, unfortunately with no obvious solution. These meetings deeply involved me in what happened, while also showing us how difficult it is to decide on a balanced approach to the issues on the agenda. Third, we also witness the powerful influence of social media. Also, everyone is talking about you without knowing the real facts, but they form opinions that spread like wildfire.

All of this leads to an unstoppable media storm

It’s easy to like a post, even when you don’t completely agree with it, and it can happen quickly, without thinking. It’s also very easy to write negative texts, reinforced by the anonymity that accompanies unverified reports. Before the internet, we had the church graveyard, the butcher shop, and the gossip bar, now we have a much faster media with greater coverage and speed. There’s no happy ending though, it’s assumed that the mission is impossible given the circumstances. That leaves us with no solution, but is there one?

We see believable characters in their respective roles, even the unsympathetic roles

Overall, this isn’t a documentary that demonstrates that fundamentalists are becoming a bigger problem, as I’m sure the filmmakers now know that we already knew. This is a real-world story set in and around a real-world school, real teachers and real students with families back home who are also involved.