• Archive - Festival 37
  • Director: Laura Wandel
  • Belgium 2021
  • 72 minutes
  • French
  • Subtitles in Hebrew, English

Seven-year-old Nora and her big brother Abel are back to school. When Nora witnesses Abel being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect him by warning their father. However, Abel forces her to remain silent. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora will ultimately try to find her place, torn between children's and adult's worlds.

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard of the 2021 Cannes Festival, Playground marks Belgian filmmaker Laura Wandel as a talent to watch. The stunning debut film plunges us into a world of schoolyard bullying, and handles with great sensitivity its young protagonists’ universal sense of vulnerability and need for recognition.

Feature Debut

An online conversation with the director


  • Director Laura Wandel
  • Production Stéphane Lhoest
  • Script Laura Wandel
  • Cinematography Frédéric Noirhomme
  • Editing Nicolas Rumpl
  • Festivals Cannes
  • Actors Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Karim Leklou
  • Source Lev Cinemas Ltd.