THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – WHY NOT
Kaleb, a 10-year-old boy born in France, lives in Paris in a blended family that is reminiscent of the one staged by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda in his sublime feature film A family matter, released and crowned with the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018. Around Kaleb, in fact, there is his mother, Betty, an Ethiopian without papers or even identity; Jean-Luc, a tailor met by chance who became so attached to them that he decided to take them on; and Mehdi, friend of Jean-Luc, who has become a kind of big brother for the kid.
A dotted version
It’s up to this little clan “being a family” and keeping warm, which director Vasken Toranian becomes attached to, in order to follow them, as the days go by, in their efforts to regularize Betty’s situation and try to offer, by sticking together, the best possible future for Kaleb. Together, they talk endlessly, run through the administrations, help the kid with his homework, play with him, sometimes worry and often laugh.
Alas, the documentary, which proceeds step by step, offers only a dotted version of the story and the encounter that ended up uniting these four beautiful people so strongly today. Certainly touching, the story of the Kaleb’s World stands on the surface, remains still and ultimately gives a feeling of incompleteness, both formally and narratively.
French documentary by Vasken Toranian (1:07 a.m.).