Forest Whitaker
From the wild Kenyan savannah to the winding paths of the Moroccan Atlas mountains; from the suffocating heat of the Indian Ocean coast to the the vastness of Patagonia’s high plateau, these children are driven by the same quest, the same dream.
Jackson, Zahira, Samuel and Carlito are the heroes of On the way to school, a feature-length adventure documentary about four young schoolchildren forced to surmount a multitude of obstacles in order to get to school. On taking their amazing paths that lead to learning, they will leave childhood behind and begin a journey fraught with pitfalls and surprises.
This film is the story of a voyage of initiation that will change their lives.
The feature-length On the way to school came out in 2013 in cinemas in 26 countries.
It was seen by over 2 million viewers worldwide, and was awarded many international prizes including the Cesar for the best documentary of 2014 (France), the Trophee Francophone du Long-metrage Documentaire, the Grand Prize for Society at the international Golden Panda Festival in China, the INIS prize of the 17th international children’s film festival in Montreal (Canada), and the Premio Internazionale Cartagine 2014 (Italy).
With the participation of OCS and France 5
In partnership with UNESCO and AIDE ET ACTION
Year: 2013
length: 77′
Directed by Pascal Plisson
length: HD
Music by Laurent Ferlet
Broadcast: The Walt Disney Company France and Wild Bunch
Produced by Barthélémy Fougea
Co-produced by Winds, Ymagis and Hérodiade
Just like the feature-length On the Way to School, the series takes up the universal theme of the search for a better life through education. A goal that these schoolchildren can only attain after travelling the long road that separates their home from their school.
The series was awarded the Prix Enfance Media Majuscule 2016.
In partnership with UNESCO, PLAN FRANCE and AIDE ET ACTION
Directed by Frédéric Brunnquell,Yung Chang, Roberto Chellet, Tan Chuimui, Bertrand Collard, Edouard Douek, Lixin Fan, Emmanuel Guionet, Zhou Hao, Yann l’Hénoret, Zhang Nan, Alejandro Ramirez Corona and Emilio Valdes Rodriguez
Broadcast by France Télévisions
Length: 6 x 52’ et 26 x 26’
Music by Laurent Ferlet & Santiago Walsh
Produced by Barthélémy Fougea
& Stéphanie Schorter (Macha prod)
Based on an original idea by Pascal Plisson
Coproduced by Macha Prod (France), Propaganda (Russie), Cloudstone (Chine), Tupasimi (Argentine) and Havas Makers (Mexique)
Bible: Marie-Claire Javoy & Barthélémy Fougea
It is through the drawn character of the little boy Menino that in each episode we discover the different cultures, games and ways of life of the children who live in all four corners of the Earth.
Based on an original idea by Didier Brunner & Barthélémy Fougea
Directed by Christian Guyonnet, Pauline Brunner and Marion Verlé
Graphics conceived by Alê Abreu
Produced by Barthélémy Fougea & Didier Brunner
Co-produced by Winds, Folivari and Cyber Group
Broadcast: Web
Novel
On the way to school
This book is based on Pascal Plisson’s film On The Way to School, winner of the best documentary Cesar in 2014.
Enhanced by co-author Marie-Claire Javoy’s writing, read about the adventures of seven extraordinary schoolchildren.
Written by Marie-Claire Javoy
Photos: Edouard Guionet, Barthélémy Fougea, Francis Latreille
Publisher: l’Éditeur
Coffee-table book
On the way to school
There are 8 children: Cho, Youssef, Ani… and they live in Vietnam, on the West Bank, in Malaysia… For each child, getting to school involves a journey of several kilometres or more. They undertake this journey alone, armed only with their courage and by whatever means they can – on foot, by canoe, on horseback or riding a donkey. The perils of desert or high mountain, the pitfalls of hostile terrain, the presence of wild animals or the fear of treading on a landmine are just some of the trials they face each day.
Mixing over 300 photos taken during the shooting of the series with the gripping stories of these youngsters from the ends of the Earth, author Marie-Claire Javoy relates the daily home life of these children and gives us, by witnessing their respective journeys, a portrait of their schools and the teaching they receive in some of the countries where the literacy rate is among the lowest in the world.
Written by Marie-Claire Javoy
Publisher: Hoëbeke
Photos : Emmanuel Guionet, Yann L’Hénoret
Children’s Novel
Ways to school
The series of children’s books published by Nathan is aimed at readers 8 years and up. Each of the eight books in the series recounts the journeys of a child from either the documentary series Ways To School or the feature-length On The Way to School. Illustrated using photos from the documentaries, the novels plunge us into the heart of our heroes’ adventures.
Authors: Myriam Dahman, Nicolas Digard, Sophie Nanteuil
Photos: Emmanuel Guionet et Yann L’Hénoret
Publisher: Nathan
Comics
The longest road to school
The longest road to school is a comic strip series by Renaud Garret and Marie-Claire Javoy. It traces the long and perilous journeys of five children, aged between 11 and 14, who leave their childhood village in the little Tibetan enclave of Dolpo for the first time to travel to college in Kathmandu.
Six days of trekking over soaring mountains and camping out in the open, then a 45 minutes flight in a small aircraft, then 20 hours by bus… an incredible annual journey on the paths of the high Himalayas in search of learning.
Animation designer: Renaud Garreta (Insiders, Le maître de Benson Gate, Seul autour du monde…)
Author: Marie-Claire Javoy, scénariste (Sur le chemin de l’école, Le premier cri)
Publisher: Dargaud
The VR experience
On the way to school VR
Join the adventure and follow the children through our planet most staggering landscapes! If you can keep track!
With On the way to school VR we challenge you to dive into the fascinating daily struggle for education with 5 exclusive stories. Venture a walk across Nepalese mountains or Brazilians rivers, and with the help of animated interventions, go off to explore an infinite imaginary world through the eyes of those passionate kids in search of knowledge!
Supervisor : Sophie Ansei
Exhibition
School/The great adventure
This exhibition, School/The great adventure aims to invite visitors to take a sensory, interactive and learning journey into:
The school of yesterday, today, here and elsewhere, and of tomorrow through the eyes of children from different centuries and countries.
While we live in a pivotal time in terms of learning and the values of education, we want to propose a playful, interactive and immersive trip through time that allows us to appropriate the story of school both in France and throughout the world.
Projections, virtual and augmented reality: we propose a globally immersive environment, supported by documentation and original collections, that offers a multi-sensorial journey – a high-quality, innovative and moving ‘edutainment’ of top class cultural appeal for families or groups to take part in.
It will be a landmark exhibition that will redefine the traditional museum experience by creating a trip through time and space to take us on an interactive trip into an amazing virtual reality world and make us rediscover schooling in an original way.
Art curator: Frédérique Torres (Star Wars and Toutankhamon exhibitions)
Serious game
Ways to school
This serious game is an immersive adventure that showcases the discovery of the landscapes the player crosses as he or she develops their general knowledge. It complements the documentary, but is treated in an aesthetic and creative manner.
The principle of the game is for the player to accompany the children figuring on the map of the world card (three are taken from the feature-length and three from the documentary), and travel with them as far as their schools.
The route is punctuated with quizzes that correspond to the geography programme of CM1/CM2.
Co-production: Winds, France TV Éducation, MachaProd, Ymagis & Hérodiade
Photos: Emmanuel Guionet & Yann l’Hénoret
Conception and réalisation: PéoLéo
Photolibrary
Winds
The Photolibrary WINDS contains more than 3000 pictures.
These pictures took across the globe offer a substantial panorama about the situation of school and access to education today in the world as well as the nocturnal wildlife of Southern Africa
The foundation
On the way to school
On the Way to School is also an association under the French law of 1901 founded by Pascal Plisson and Barthélémy Fougea that has as its aim to support access to education across the globe.
Come and support us, discover or rediscover the children, their stories and our projects…
