Four children from different parts of the world each face a challenge: doing all they can to realize their dream and pass the test that will change their life. Albert Gonzalez Monteagudo, 11, prepares for an important boxing match in Cuba. Nidhi Jha, 16, works hard to be accepted at a prestigious engineering school in India for disadvantaged students. Deegii Batjargal, 11, trains for an audition with the best contortionist school in Mongolia. Tom Ssekabira, 19, dreams of becoming a ranger in Uganda and studies for the final exam. Together they share a single day packed with their hopes and dreams.

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Sur le chemin de l’école, the surprise success of 2013, followed four children on their way to school, as they walked many kilometers under often extreme conditions – in Morocco, India and Chile. Le Grand Jour is similar in that it follows four other children doing everything they can to pass tests that will realize their dreams – in Uganda, India, Cuba and Mongolia. An approach that may seem cynical to some, as director Pascal Plisson adapts his formula for an optimistic documentary to the education and futures of these world citizens, however it is not cynical – but rather obviously sincere, sensitive and admiring of its subjects. Unfortunately it is also artificial, as Plisson films and reframes reality, and it seems to only touch on its protagonists, rarely letting them speak and thus letting the audience get to know them better.