School of Life

France, Feature Film, 2017, 116 min

Gorgeous woodland scenery and spectacular wildlife photography cast a magical spell under Vanier’s skillful direction. The Hollywood Reporter

Rescued from a nightmarish orphanage in Paris in 1927, Paul is taken by a cheerful woman to a vast hunting estate in the Loire, a dark and mysterious world for Paul, a city boy. The immense forest, the misty ponds, the moors and the fields, everything here belongs to the Count de la Salle. Fresnaye, a taciturn widower who lives alone in his mansion, where the cheerful woman, Celestine, is a domestic and her husband, Borel, is the stern estate gamekeeper. Paul is moved into the couple's servant cottage and given the run of the estate, where he meets Totoche, a grizzled poacher who teaches Paul the ways of the forest. But a secret weighs on the estate: Paul did not come here by chance. Subtitled.

Directed by Nicolas Vanier

Colorado Premiere