Their youthful faces contrast with their ecological awareness. Their names are Malone, Léo, Lucie, Ilouna and they are in first, second and final year at the Fénelon Notre-Dame high school in La Rochelle. Climate change is at the heart of their teenage concerns. To tackle the problem, they chose action within the “Tomorrow is us” option which has existed since 2017 in their establishment. In 2023, with a history and geography teacher, Fanny Rubia, this handful of volunteer students took a trip to the Alps, to Chamonix.
The objective for them is to confront the impacts of climate change and raise awareness of the phenomenon without sinking into eco-anxiety. It is through five of them that director Solène Desbois decided to tell this adventure in her documentary, “À Voies Hautes”. “This is not my first film on this theme,” says the director. I have already worked on Antarctica in 2021. And it was while screening my film that I realized that the children were captivated and that I turned to National Education. In the summer of 2021, I carried out a project with middle school students who went to Iceland in the middle of the grandiose and changing nature. It was more of a film about awareness, she says. In ''High Ways'', it's different. I thought I would film their awareness of the sea of ice, that famous “wow”, but in reality they already had it. It's more of a film about commitment. »
It was a real challenge for the young people from La Rochelle.
Tomorrow is us
This project would never have seen the light of day without the Demain c’est nous option. In 2017, technology teacher François Bernard took his students to the Arctic to educate them about major environmental and societal issues. The expedition transforms young people and the idea of creating the Demain c'est nous option germinates in their minds.
“I wanted to take the students to places where nature is very present. In 2018, we went to Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located in the Greenland Sea. There we are very small compared to the elements. I tried to teach the students that we are part of nature,” says François Bernard, now retired but who will come to La Rochelle during the festival to present his book.
“Having more self-confidence, overcoming your fears, is a gateway to implementing projects”
“The first year, we immediately saw the results: the students were involved and became sensitive to nature. They better understood why it was necessary to change their behavior,” recalls the professor who then passed the torch to his colleagues. “It’s interesting in this project to also see the plurality of subjects represented by the teachers,” adds Solène Desbois. Educating through emotion and creating empathy with nature are the best ways to awaken young people to the seriousness of climate change.
In the heart of the Alpine massif, the film also tells the story of an adventure. That of young people from La Rochelle unaccustomed to the mountains and who, for some of them, challenged themselves and learned to surpass themselves through physical effort. “Having more self-confidence, overcoming your fears, is a gateway to implementing projects,” emphasizes Solène Desbois.
Elsewhere in France
Faced with eco-anxiety, the answer lies in support. “We returned from Chamonix and there were still two months of school left, the time needed for the debrief. We came home with even more keys and more desire,” admits the director. For the management team, the idea was to support the high school students after the expedition. “There is real follow-up, real pedagogy, it’s not just a one-shot,” confides Solène Desbois. This pedagogy was carried out by Fanny Rubia, a history-geography teacher, during this project. “It’s important that we adults can accompany them,” insists the director.
Since then, Demain c'est nous has become known and the option has been rolled out in nine other establishments in France, middle and high schools. Fanny Rubia is now attached to this mission, that of developing the option to make the voices of adolescents heard at the bedside of the planet.
“À Voies Hautes”, screening Sunday November 17 at 3:45 p.m., in the presence of Fanny Rubia, Solène Desbois and François Bernard. Meeting with François Bernard Friday November 15 at 5:30 p.m. Info on fifav-larochelle.com
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