Over three years in Vienna’s largest primary school in the district of Favoriten, a class of 25 children moves from second to fourth grade. Their experiences reveal the daily lives of migrant students, the dedication of their teacher, and the challenges they face amid scarce resources.

A classroom of children take lessons in decency, democracy, and better futures in this compassionate documentary from Ruth Beckermann. Offsetting the underfunded public sphere with one educator’s hopeful dedication to Vienna’s next generation, Favoriten is often lovely, yet no less political for it.