Angry tweets even before its theatrical release.
When its trailer was released a few weeks ago, “No Waves” was accused by a handful of Internet users of “discrediting the real victims” and promoting a “patriarchal society where women are seen as liars” .
The cause of this excitement?
In theaters this Wednesday, March 27, Teddy Lussi-Modeste's drama tells how a French teacher falls into a vicious spiral when a 13-year-old schoolgirl accuses him of sexual harassment.
However, in the first trailer, the viewer immediately understood that the teacher was innocent.
When we see “No waves”, we understand that these criticisms are based on a misunderstanding.
A contradiction, even.
Because the feature film shows with many nuances the point of view of Julien, the teacher, who loses his footing when death threats arise.
But also that of the schoolgirl, a teenager sincerely convinced that her teacher, who made several blunders, made advances towards her.
The director and teacher himself experienced death threats
Then trapped, too, in a spiral from which she cannot escape.
“The film is not at all a reservation to the freedom of speech movement,” confirms Teddy Lussi-Modeste.
I am fully aware that the percentage of slanderous denunciations is very low.
»
“What I wanted to say,” continues the filmmaker, “is that we must invent effective protocols to collect the words of victims and to support teachers threatened with death.
In
No Waves
, there are two victims.
And it's because we tell them both to
shut up
that we prevent the conflict from being resolved.
»
The accusations of a schoolgirl, the complaint, the death threats… Teddy Lussi-Modeste experienced them in 2019. Director (he directed “Jimmy Rivière” and “The Price of Success”), screenwriter (he co-wrote “An easy girl” and “Jeanne du Barry”), this 46-year-old from Grenoble is also a French teacher at a college in Seine-Saint-Denis.
In “No Waves” by Teddy Lussi-Modeste, the schoolgirl is sincerely convinced that her teacher, who has made several blunders, has made advances towards her.
© Kazak Productions/Frakas Productions/France 3 Cinéma/2023
What he wanted to address in “No Waves” is the loneliness of teachers when they are accused or in danger.
“The news was impacted by tragic events such as the assassinations of Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard,” he recalls.
There are also teachers threatened with death because they confiscated a cell phone.
»
To avoid these tragedies, Teddy Lussi-Modeste believes that we need “more teachers, better paid, more nurses, a harassment representative in the school, a speech therapist, fewer students per class…”.
“The film questions the teachers’ discomfort and cries
Help us!
“, he insists.
On availability since last year, the director will return to a teaching position next September.
“It’s a very important job for me because I feel very indebted for what school has given me,” he confides.
Born into a gypsy family, Teddy Lussi-Modeste could have left National Education in CM 2 if a priest had not dissuaded his grandfather.
Professor “a profession a little safer than cinema”
“My father wanted me to work in the markets, where he and my mother sold clothes as salesmen,” he remembers.
I loved school.
Even if, when I arrived with a book in front of my cousins, I was called a
gadjo
(non-gypsy)”
After the baccalaureate, he continued with studies of modern literature, then took the competitive exam for Fémis, a prestigious film school.
“It was hard to convince my parents that I had to go to Paris,” he remembers.
Because when you're a gypsy, you only leave home when you get married.
»
Once he left Fémis, Teddy Lussi-Modeste took a Capes de lettres moderne to have “a profession a little safer than cinema”.
“I realize that it brings me both psychological and financial stability,” he emphasizes.
Since then, I have moved forward in life doing these two jobs.
»
Editor's note:
3.5/5
“No waves”,
French drama by Teddy Lussi-Modeste.
With François Civil, Shaïn Boumedine, Bakary Kebe… 1h32.