Une nuit à la maternelle

Les polonais Rafał Skalski & Marek Baranowski ont tous les deux participé au workshop européen du Groupe Ouest, LIM | Less is More, en 2020 pour le développement de ce long-métrage, « A Night in the Kindergarten » (Noc W Przedszkolu).

Synopsis

Enfant chamailleur, Tytus est vulgaire aussi bien dans ses mots que dans ses dessins. Les parents d’élèves veulent son départ. Mais quand un charmant jeune homme débarque à l’école pour défendre le bambin indiscipliné, il découvre que l’histoire n’est pas aussi simple qu’elle en a l’air.

Rafał Skalski & Marek Baranowski at LIM MEET in Plouneour-Brignogan in 2020, exchanging with their producer | © Gabriel Brunet-Sanz

Intentions – Rafał Skalski 

The boy’s expulsion from the kindergarten polarizes attitudes and tests the moral condition of the unique microsociety of the parents’ council. For me, A NIGHT IN THE kINDERGARTEN is a “dark night” metaphor, a Polish parent’s worst nightmare. The confined situation allows for the accumulation of most parenting problems to be exposed during this one event.

Following the black comedy formula, the film tells a dramatic story of the exclusion of an individual who differs from imposed norms. I’d like the viewers to ask themselves: if my child was attacked by a violent preschooler, would I be empathetic enough towards the attacker? Eryk uses unconventional methods to make the parents find the empathetic adult within themselves. Anyone who tries hard to be a perfect parent forgets the time they were kids.

Eryk may become a responsible carer once he realizes Tytus is like the kid he was in the past. He finally accepts the young boy who still lives on inside him. You can’t be a cool parent without liking the kid you used to be.