Shoelaces Science

Benjamin Wizman, Louis Quémeneur

The film begins in the dark with a slamming door and the sound of Alma's schoolbag which she places on the floor. Alma, an 8 year old little girl. Her mother told her she was dyspraxic, she thought it was a super power but it wasn't at all. Alma leaves through the carriage entrance of her building. Looking grumpy, she crosses the street and arrives in front of the square on the sidewalk opposite. Arriving at the park, her friends greet her. Alma is not particularly cheerful, noticing that her shoelaces have come undone along the way, her friends start running towards the spider's web. Alma remains motionless and with a blasé look watches her friends running, and stares at the spider web located in the center of the park. She complains that her mother never ties her shoelaces properly and focuses on them. On a wide shot, she finds herself all alone facing the spider's web, which transforms (morphs) into a fairly large laboratory similar to a nervous system. Among all the types of knots she has studied, she searches for the perfect knot that she could replicate without problem and even goes so far as to observe the texture of the laces under a microscope. A child falls in front of Alma, she extends her hand to help him get up. He thanks her and asks her why she didn't join them. Alma remains silent, her friend notices her undone shoelaces, he offers to tie them for her. She accepts and joins her comrades on the spider's web.