The inter-municipal school of Derrière-Pertuis is on a ridge of the Jura mountain range bordering Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel. Located in a hamlet where there are only five houses, at an altitude of 1153 meters, it is in the center of a region its inhabitants call «The Mountain», in a unique position in remote pastureland. In this enduring landscape, the furthest edge of the canton on the border of the Bernese Franches-Montagnes, Tableau noir chronicles life at the school over a year, focusing on the pupils, aged six to twelve, who share the same class, along with their successes and failures.