Steven Spielberg congratulates Mulhouse college students for their film in tribute to him

It’s Christmas before its time. The 4th grade students at Wolf College in Mulhouse had the wonderful surprise of receiving a message from Steven Spielberg, in person, congratulating them on the short film they made about him. These budding filmmakers imagined an eight-minute film, where the characters (played by the students themselves) demand accountability from a film journalist after a scathing review of the film The Fabelmans by Steven Spielberg (2022). From the framing to the music, the little film is a real tribute to the cinema of Spielberg, whom the students wanted to thank, for having always “defended children” in his films, explains one of them at the microphone of France 3.

Produced as part of a film club that the students have been following for two years, the short film A Star was screened in a cinema in Mulhouse this Tuesday. At the end of the projection, a video message from the master appears on the screen. “Good morning, good evening, good morning!” says the 76-year-old director, before adding: “This is the extent of what I can say in French.” Very touched by the initiative, Steven Spielberg warmly thanked the students of Wolf College before giving them a little wink: “I hope to see you one of these days in Hollywood.”

This short film was able to reach Steven Spielberg through Catherine Wyler, daughter of filmmaker William Wyler (one of Steven Spielberg's favorite filmmakers) with whom the class worked last year. Olivier Arnold, the professor who initiated the project, spoke on BFM TV about the great “emotion” that invaded the room when the video was broadcast. “I put myself in my students’ shoes and I tell myself that it’s beautiful to believe in your dreams. I hope this video will accompany them for the rest of their lives.”