One Small Step

Film commentary: One Small Step

For budding astronauts, dreamers of distant orbits and destinations.

The short film also invites reflection on parent-child relationships and the importance of memories that accompany and support us during difficulttimes.

Questioning the film: One Small Step

Understand the story, the theme, express your sensibility and exercise your critical thinking skills.

For as long as you can remember, a young girl has dreamed of becoming an astronaut.
For budding astronauts, dreamers of distant orbits and destinations.
The short film also invites you to reflect on parent-child relationships and the importance of the memories that accompany and support us during difficult times.

Before viewing, explain that the English title "One small step" means "one small step". This refers to the famous phrase that Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012) uttered on 21 July 1969 when he first set foot on the moon: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".

1 Who is the main character in the film?
A young girl who is followed from childhood to adulthood.
2 What is her passion?
Her passion is astronomy.
This is clear from the beginning of the film as the little girl, surrounded by magazines, drawings and models on astronomy, watches a rocket take off on TV.Even the shape of her room and the blue carpet evoke a planet. We can think that the little girl's dream is to go to the moon.
Note that the film begins with an off-screen scene:
We can guess what the little girl is looking at by the expression on her face and by the sound of the TV, which we cannot see.
To go further on the notion of off-screen scene, consult the educational file Grammar of Cinema...
Astronomy, considered to be the oldest of the sciences, is the science of observing the stars From the Latin word astronomía, which comes from the ancient Greek ástron (star) and nómos (law).
3 In the second scene of the film, what clues confirm the little girl's passion?
The moon and a rocket are drawn on her six-year-old birthday cake.
Her father gives her a pair of astronaut boots.
Students will learn to distinguish between an astronaut (a pilot or passenger in a spacecraft) and an astronomer (a scientist specialising in the study of astronomy).Note that the term astronaut is becoming more common than its two synonyms, cosmonaut (referring to Russian pilots or passengers) and spationaut (referring to the French).
4 What does the father do for a living?
He is a cobbler.
5 Describe the granddaughter's dream (from 1 min 3s).
The little girl and her father travel in space in a cardboard box; they land on the moon and admire planet Earth.
6 The little girl grows up and goes to university.How does the relationship between the girl and her father change?
The girl, caught up in her studies, pays less and less attention to her father; she no longer talks to him when she comes home, she no longer eats with him.Her father is sad but he understands the situation.
7 What is the first response to her application for the astronaut programme?
Specify that the English sentence "astronaut candidate program" at 3 min 9 s means "Candidat au programme d'astronaute" in French.
It is a negative response.We cannot see the letter, but we can understand it by the girl's disappointed expression.
8 How does the girl react to this negative answer?
She loses courage and no longer wants to work (3 min 44 s).
9 At 3 min 55 s, what event, which we understand from the following scene, is going to turn the girl's life upside down?
The death of her father. This isunderstandable because the girl is in a cemetery.
10 At 5:05, what does the granddaughter discover when she is tidying up the house?
A cardboard box in which her father has kept all the shoes he made for her, even the birthday boots she wore when she was six.
11 What is the granddaughter's reaction?
She is moved and remembers her father's kindness and tenderness.
This gives her courage; she wants to work again (5 min 46 s).
12 How does the film end?
The girl passes her university exams and receives a positive response to her application for the astronaut programme.She fulfils her dream of walking on the moon.
13 Do you have a particular dream? What would you like to do later?
Open answer / debate.

Download PDF of the film's educational activities

Created with the support of the Ministry of Education and the CNC.
Family viewing of the film, educational activities with parents at home and with teachers in class.
What's the point of mathematics (Mathematics) (Cycle 2 and 3)
Educational activities proposed by Valérie from the Val 10 blog based on the film One Small Step.
Geometric shapes (Mathematics) (Cycle 2 and 3)
Educational activities proposedby Valérie from the Val 10 blogbased onthe film One Small Step.

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