photo: ImagePresse

Helene and Stephen Weicholz Global Film Series presents
Playground (Un monde)

In French with English subtitles
Belgium, not rated, directed by Laura Wandel, 2021, drama, 72 min

In this debut feature by writer-director Laura Wandel, the everyday reality of grade school is seen from a child’s-eye-view as an obstacle course of degradation and abuse. Following 7-year-old Nora and her big brother Abel, we see Nora struggling to fit in before finding her place on the schoolyard. One day, she notices Abel being bullied by other kids, and though she rushes to protect him by warning their father, Abel forces her to remain silent, while he endures more humiliation and harassment by his peers. Transposing the gritty realism of such filmmakers as Jacques Audiard and the Dardennes Brothers to the inner world of kids, Wandel crafts an empathetic and visceral portrait of the cruelty of children, and the failure of adults to protect them. Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Film.

Meet the Curator
Dale M. Pollock, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, received a BA in Anthropology from Brandeis University in 1972 and MS in Communications from San Jose State University. In 1977, he became the head film critic for the Daily Variety until he was hired by the Los Angeles Times to be their chief entertainment correspondent. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in the early 1980s and wrote Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas in 1984, which has sold more than 150,000 copies and remains in print. In 1985, Pollock joined David Geffen’s company as a development executive. He joined A&M Films as vice president in charge of production, and was named president in 1990, producing such films as The Mighty Quinn, A Midnight Clear and Mrs. Winterbourne. Pollock ran his own film company, Peak Productions, for 10 years, producing the box office hit Set It Off. He co-founded the producing program at the American Film Institute in 1995. In 1999, he became Dean of the School of Filmmaking at the (then) North Carolina School of the Arts, stepping down in 2006 to become Emeritus Professor of Cinema Studies. Pollock was awarded an Endowed Professorship in Film in his name at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking and is the 2016 recipient of the UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence, along with the 2020 Arts Council of Winston Salem’s Annual Award, its highest honor.

Other films in the series:
Belfast – July 13
When Pomegranates Howl – July 20
On the Water (Vee peal) – July 28

With special thanks to our generous sponsors for this series, Helene and Stephen Weicholz, and our curator, Dale Pollock.