This trailer has been around for a little while – posted just before Christmas – but I wanted to bring audiences attention to this film, Playground, which I am hearing is one of the best to emerge from the festivals that took place last year.
Appearing on many best-of lists of 2021, Playground is described on the official notes as an immersion into the war zone/school yard, and follows 7-year-old Nora (Maya Vanderbeque), a witness to her older brother Abel’s torment by bullies. Abel (Günter Duret) forbids her from reporting it to the principal and Nora fears that telling her father would only make things worse. Belgian director Laura Wandel, in a striking feature debut, shoots at a child’s-eye level, plunging us into a self-contained universe in which some kids enjoy games while others dread every tense moment.
Playground is written and directed by Laura Wandel and is short-listed for 2022 Oscars
Premiering at Cannes last summer, the film looks like it is starting to roll out to audiences with the U.S. getting a premiere on 11th February.
Here’s that trailer.
