Educational messages for children from the 2017 Oscar-winning film

Holding the Oscar in his hand, director Deak Kristof said: “Let’s raise our children in a way that we can be proud of them later.” And he also added that he dedicated the film to children who can make the world a better place.

For the first time in the history of Hungarian cinema, a 20-minute short film has won an Oscar in this category. Young director Deák kriftóf made his debut film “Everybody” almost two years ago with a completely negligible budget. Except for one or two chosen main actors, all the other roles were taken from children already in a choir at a Budapest primary school.

Because it is a short film, the plot is very simple. A girl named Zsófia, when transferring to a new school, applied to join the school choir. At first, everything seemed to go smoothly because the principal encouraged the students to sing, the school choir was famous, had competed in many places, won many awards, and brought honor to the school.

For the first time in the history of Hungarian cinema, a 20-minute short film won an Oscar in this genre.

But right after the first singing practice, the little girl was held back by the vocal teacher, tested for her voice, and when she discovered that Zsofia, apart from liking to sing, had no special voice, the teacher bluntly asked Zsofia to only "pretend to sing", meaning to still stand in the choir, but only move her lips and not sing out loud so as not to "affect" the other children's naturally gifted voices.

Little Zsófia was very sad, but with her innocent soul, she accepted to follow her teacher's teachings: "Singing in your head is still singing, not everything needs to be said out loud."

Young director Deák kriftóf made his debut film “Everybody” on a small budget.

A short time later, Zsofia became friends with Liza, a girl in her class who shared her love of music and singing. One day, while practicing singing, Liza, standing next to her, noticed that her girlfriend was not singing and was only moving her lips. When questioned, Zsofia could not help but sob and tell her friend that her teacher had made her pretend to sing.

Liza reacted indignantly the next hour, standing up alone and daring to say that she was lying and not being equal to her friends, demanding to quit the choir. But the music teacher was no pushover, she used all her experience and tact to put psychological pressure on the children.

She analyzed that nothing in life is equal because not everyone has a good voice like Liza and some other friends, if everyone sang together in the competition, they would not win any prizes, they would not be awarded a trip, the school would lose its reputation, parents would not be happy... that they had to do as she said, to create opportunities for everyone... All the children were bitter, no one argued with her anymore.

The ending of the film was a complete surprise. The moment to go on stage for the competition had arrived, everyone was dressed nicely and neatly, the audience was waiting anxiously and the teacher raised her hand to start the song: One, two, three… the whole choir was “engrossed” in their lips, very eloquent, very much like singing for real, except not a single sound was made.

Despite her anger, rolling her eyes, shaking each child one by one and nagging: "Sing, sing, sing loudly, really loudly, everyone!!!", the stage remained silent, only the mouths moving like soulless puppets.

Then the teacher was so embarrassed that she stormed off. The audience was confused and whispered to each other as if before a big storm... suddenly Liza's clear, high-pitched voice rose, followed by the whole choir singing enthusiastically, filled with happiness on the young, brave, and sincere faces.

The film gives viewers faith in beauty, in the right, in the power of empathy and of the collective.

Many schools in Hungary have discussed the film.

At the end of the film, the lyrics still resonate in my heart, I just want to listen to them over and over again. The film gives viewers faith in beauty, in the right, in the power of empathy and of the collective. The film "Everyone" won many audience awards before becoming an Oscar candidate in Toronto, Tokyo, Chicago and Berlin. Every frame, every image is naturally staged and captivates viewers from beginning to end.

Many schools, including my child’s school, have had teachers discuss the film. The important thing is that most of the students in the class agree that discrimination is not allowed, and that cheating is not allowed, even if it is to get a big reward, which all children love.

The most enjoyable thing about the choir is the feeling of singing together and sharing. Many teachers sympathize with the singing teacher because she also has to endure the pressure of the school, has to take exams, has to have achievements to be kept teaching.

In the current social turmoil, the film “Everyone” seems to want to remind us of a human value that has long been forgotten. When holding the Oscar in his hand, director Deak Kristof said: “Let’s raise our children in such a way that we can be proud of them later!” And he also added that he dedicated the film to children who can make the world a better place…

According to Dantri