Observing racial segregation at the Lycée français of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Rouch worked with students there who willingly enacted a story about the arrival of a new white girl, and her effect on the interactions of black and white students. Fomenting a dramatic situation instead of repeating one, Rouch extended the experiments he had undertaken in Chronique d'un été, including having on-camera student participants view rushes of the film midway through the story.