 to be and to have (; also the uk title) is a 2002 french documentary film directed by nicolas philibert about a small rural school. it was nominated as an "out of competition" film at the 2002 cannes film festival  and achieved commercial success. the film became the subject of an unsuccessful legal action by the school's teacher, who said that he and the children's parents had been misled about the film's intended audience, and that he and the children had been exploited. the documentary's title translates as "to be and to have", the two auxiliary verbs in the french language. it is about a primary school in the commune of saint-Ãtienne-sur-usson, puy-de-dÃ´me, france, the population of which is just over 200. the school has one small class of mixed ages (from four to twelve years), with a dedicated teacher, mr lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year. the film won several awards, including the 2003 sacramento french film festival audience prize.awards for Ãtre et avoir ==lawsuit== following the film's popularity in cinemas, lopez, the principal personality in the documentary, made an unsuccessful attempt to sue the documentary's makers for a share of the â¬2 million profit. one of his main claims was that the film-makers had exploited his image without authorisation. french film unions warned that if lopez had been successful it would have spelt "the death of the documentary, undermining the crucial principle that subjects should not be paid to participate".{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1315116,00.html|publisher=the guardian|author=amelia gentleman|title=defeat for teacher who sued over film profits|dat
2000s_documentary_films 2002_films Documentary_films_about_children Films_about_educators Films_directed_by_Nicolas_Philibert Films_set_in_schools French-language_films French_documentary_films French_films