Stella

Synopsis:
1977. Stella, 11, begins her first year in a prestigious Parisian secondary school. Stella has come out into the world… A new world, far from the one she knows. Almost a miracle. She lives in a café, a working-class café, on the edge of Paris. This new school year will change her life.

Director’s statement: "Stella is based on my childhood memories and in particular, on my first year of secondary school in 1977.  I'd wanted to make a film about it for a long time. But it was when my son began secondary school four years ago that I began writing it. At that time, there was a lot of heated discussion on schools: on authority, coeducation, the veil, school as a means of upward social mobility, etc. All that made me look at my own vision of school and secondary school. A secondary school that I clung to despite me parents' many moves. It was my only reference point, my only anchor during my adolescence. I wanted to talk about the opportunity that I had been given."

Official site

Trailer

Nominations:
Best Supporting Actor (Benjamin Biolay), 2009 César Awards, France
Best Film, 2008 Flanders International Film Festival

Awards:
Best Screenplay, 2008 Flanders International Film Festival

(click to enlarge)