There are some big personalities in the class of seven-year-olds in an inner city Vienna primary school in this rather lovely and compassionate documentary. It follows three years in the life of the class, taught for the entire time by one teacher. Ilkay Idiskut is young and dedicated, and she combines the best of teaching styles: a warm and patient listener, but insisting on structure and discipline. The little faces of her pupils look crestfallen when they disappoint her. Ilkay is too good a teacher to have favourites – and the film’s title, Favoriten, is the name of the ethnically diverse district in Vienna where the school is located.
The kids are at that delightful unselfconscious age when they dance like no one is watching, wiggling and wriggling with abandon during the five minute dance breaks to move their bodies in class. Director Ruth Beckermann and her cinematographer Johannes Hammel must have clambered around the tiny, cramped classroom on their knees to get the handheld cameras down at the kids’ level; they don’t miss a thing. Most of the children are from migrant families; many are Turkish and Syrian, 60% have a first language other than German. The school is struggling with finances and staffing, but clearly the kids feel a sense of community.
What’s really striking is the persistent focus on secular values in class. With an open, curious approach, Idiskut challenges a boy from a religiously conservative home who insists that it’s for a husband to decide if his wife wears a bikini. Her patience is a wonder. Many of the kids are having a hard time. Some live with the trauma of war and upheaval; the majority seem to be learning German as a second language.
Towards end of the film, the audience is introduced to Austria’s tiered secondary education system that streams kids into academic and vocational tracks at the end of primary. The implication is that the system is not designed for kids playing catch-up. Still, it feels like a real privilege to watch them grow, seeing their faces change, catching glimpses of the adults they will become.
• Favoriten is at the ICA, London from 6 December.
