A look back at the “Soyons Critiques!” workshops

Launched in 2023, the “Soyons Critiques!” program offers middle and high school classes in the Aix-Marseille Academy the opportunity to discover a selection of films presented at FIDMarseille throughout the school year. Each screening is followed a week later by a critical analysis session in class, led by the festival teams. For the 2025-2026 school year, thirteen classes, from ninth to twelfth grade, are participating in the program.

For the final sessions of “Soyons Critiques!” sessions for the 2025-2026 school year, we had the pleasure of once again welcoming the twelfth-grade classes from Lycée Saint-Exupéry and Lycée La Forbine to FIDMarseille for a screening of Next Life by Tenzin Phuntsog (High School Students’ and Second Chance School’s Award, FID 2025). The following week, we met up with them at their high school for a film analysis workshop.

A thought-provoking screening

Next Life, the first film by American-Tibetan filmmaker Tenzin Phuntsog, addresses the geopolitical context for Tibetans in the Tibetan diaspora in the United States. The film sparked the interest of the high school students in attendance in a subject with which few are familiar. This contemplative and poetic film also invited them to reflect on Buddhist traditions and the concepts they encompass, such as reincarnation, karma, nirvana, and samsara. Anastasiia Kleshchenko, programming coordinator at FIDMarseille and mediator for this screening, asked the students to consider how the film’s cinematographic effects embody this Buddhist thought. The students noted that “the repetition of scenes between father and son” could invoke the idea of reincarnation, the repetition of a cycle.

This film, which straddles two cultures, American and Tibetan, invites students to explore questions of identity and culture: “I was a little surprised that the parents passed on the Tibetan language to their son. He now has two cultures; he’s not just American.”

An introduction to film analysis

A week after the screening of Next Life at FIDMarseille, Anastasiia Kleshchenko returned to Lycée Saint-Exupéry with Marie Simon, the students’ English teacher.

To refresh their memories of the film and begin the analysis, they were shown the first sequence, inviting the students to reflect on the importance of lighting, sound, editing, framing, dialogue, and camera movements. Mathieu, one of the students, noted that “this sequence takes place before the father dies. The discussion the characters have represents one of the discussions we should have before we die. That is, talking about our origins and where we would like to die, our last wishes. The scene is very calm, there is a beautiful view. It’s soothing.” “Yes, it’s a bit like the calm before the storm,” replies Rayan. “It’s a positive, cute scene that’s nice to watch. The dialogue is slow, with long pauses between lines,” thinks Manel. Maïssa continues: “It’s a short, simple, profound, and meaningful discussion. It’s as if they’re taking their time to respond. The scene is very spiritual. It’s almost sacred. Nature is like a character. We can take the time to admire it.”

Anastasiia took advantage of this Next Life analysis session to introduce students to certain filmmaking techniques. For example, at the end of the film, filmmaker Tenzin Phuntsog breaks the fourth wall with the audience by asking the actor to look at the camera. For the students, this effect is “a way for the father to say goodbye after his death.”

An invitation to discover independent cinema

Throughout the year, students in the “Soyons Critiques!” program had the opportunity to watch independent films and try to analyze them. The “Soyons Critiques!” workshop allows high school students to discover FIDMarseille. Perhaps these past encounters have made them want to come and discover the festival in early July. FIDMarseille also invites high school students to apply to become members of the high school student jury for the next edition of the festival.

Article: Eulalie Pernelet