From the opening moments of Elementary (Apprendre), Claire Simon establishes a quiet respect for her primary-school-aged subjects. The camera stays low, framing the excited, nervous and eager faces of ...

Like her fellow documentarian Frederick Wiseman, Claire Simon is drawn to institutions, and the human flow that keeps them running. Where many of Wiseman’s films favor a big picture, a systemic view, ...

In her latest doc, which premiered at Cannes, the French director observes the daily life of a primary school in a suburb of Paris. By Lovia Gyarkye Arts & Culture Critic As in her previous films, ...