Overview
- The president of the Bouches‑du‑Rhône departmental council, Martine Vassal, announced on Monday that the council will run a cycle of school screenings of L'Abandon starting in the next academic year.
- The film, released in mid‑May, has drawn more than 200,000 viewers since May 13 and a CSA poll for CNews, Europe 1 and Le JDD found 79% of respondents back projections in collèges and lycées.
- Regional Rassemblement National figures have urged a wider roll‑out and asked local authorities to work with the Éducation nationale to organize pedagogically framed screenings for students.
- Supporters present the showings as a way to pass on laïcité and freedom of expression, while critics in parts of the cultural left warn the initiative risks politicizing classroom time and requires clear teacher support and structured debate.
- The proposal revisits the 2020 killing of teacher Samuel Paty and the 2023 juvenile convictions tied to that case, and could force the national education ministry to set formal rules on if and how schools use dramatizations for civic education.