The Disciple

Chaitanya Tamhane’s sophomore feature interrogates the fine line that separates devotion and talent. It offers a rare character study of an individual trying to become an artiste. For Sharad (Aditya Modak), a Mumbai-based musician, it is the complete faith in his guru that takes away his years of demanding practice spent mostly in isolation. At one point, his guru corrects his lacking vocals publicly. He is left humiliated. Is passion for learning enough? The Disciple isn’t your inspiring teacher-student focused tale... it asks thoughtful questions about the illusions of art, and how life goes on — whether you master an art or not.

C’mon C’mon

In this gorgeous black-and-white feature from Mike Mills, Joaquin Phoenix plays a radio journalist named Johnny, whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is asked to take care of his young nephew Jesse (Woody Norman). Their impromptu journey is laced with curiosity and wonder as they learn from one another in the course of the trip. Profound and sweet, C’mon C’mon also has a great reading list, as snippets are read throughout the journey... Mothers: An Essay On Love And Cruelty by Jacqueline Rose, Star Child by Claire A. Nivola and The Wizard Of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

My Octopus Teacher

This Oscar-winning documentary sounds strange when you read it on paper. A middle-aged man dives regularly in the ocean to visit a female octopus who rescues him in more ways than one. Directed by Pippa Erhlich and James Reed, My Octopus Teacher follows naturalist Craig Foster, burnt-out and depressed, seeking escape in the water. Through his lens, we see this octopus go about her day-to-day life. Foster sees and reflects that how this little mysterious creature inhabits the earth with a tenacity that has a lot to be learnt from. There’s so much to learn from nature, only if we are willing to see.

The Class

Based on an autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau, The Class follows a flawed teacher (Begaudeau) whose classroom becomes a microcosm of France itself. Brimming with energy, frustration and laughter, The Class, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, tells a spirited tale of power struggle between the teacher and the students. Their concepts or what’s “good” are at loggerheads. The result is a fierce drama that carves out the space of the classroom as a site of quiet rebellion.

Petite Maman

One teacher who stays throughout is the mother. What if we could meet our mothers before they became mothers? Celine Sciamma does breathtaking things in Petite Maman, a tender and heartfelt tale about a mother and her daughter who meet in a fantastical journey together. Both of them are of the same age. They talk to each other about secrets and spend time building a woodhouse. Petite Maman is that tender balm of a film that asks us... how much of us are our parents? Do we really learn from them? As inevitable as time is, how long do we take to know our parents? “You didn’t invent my sadness,” says the child mother. One only wishes that they knew their mothers better.

Hichki

Hichki works as a wonderful tribute to all the teachers we have learnt from, to that sacred bond shared between the student and the teacher beyond the classroom. It is also one of those films that gets the depiction of Tourette Syndrome correct, with a winning turn by Rani Mukerji as a teacher named Naina Mathur. Although Hichki, directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra, is ridden with narrative cliches, Rani glides through them as much as she can. Mentoring a class full of misfits like a true educator, she harnesses their wayward energies and turns it into their strength.

Precious

Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, this is a harrowing tale that manages to find hope in darkness. It comes through that one teacher in the life of Precious (Gabourey Sidibe). Ms. Blu Rain, played by Paula Patton, emerges as that life-saver who sees Precious as an individual capable of new beginnings. Abused and pregnant for the second time, Precious has one mother from hell who threatens and manipulates her at home. Only at the alternative school, with the help of Ms. Blu Rain, Precious learns to read and write. The most powerful part is that she finally locates value in herself, as someone who can carve out her life away from the abuse.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) has some years of experience as a teacher but his dreams lie somewhere else. He wishes to become a singer. When he is transferred to teach in Lunana, things do not go as planned. In Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Oscar-nominated feature, so much of the storytelling is built through tender moments of bonding and understanding. This is a beautiful film that shows how teachers have the ability to “touch the future”. One just needs to be present to what life has to offer.