This heartwarming, award-winning French drama from 1999 centres on Daniel Lefebvre (Phillipe Torreton), who works as the principal of an infant school in a poverty-stricken region of Northern France and becomes involved in the struggles of a local family. Blocked by meddling authorities, his efforts become increasingly futile, while his wife Valeria (Maria Pitarresi) grows resentful of his reluctance to have another child.