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This film began with a book written by French public school teacher Francois Begaudeau. He adapted the novel into the screenplay with director Laurent Cantet (TIME OUT) and writer Robin Campillo. Begaudeau even plays the teacher, Francois Marin. The children are all non-actors playing versions of themselves. For this documentary like non-fiction film, Cantet worked with the teens for a year crafting their characters. The result is a teacher film like no other you’ve ever seen. There is no trumped up drama or conflicts. The teacher isn’t some perfect inspiration to every student. It simply watches.

The teacher goes into the new year at the racial mixed urban school with good intentions. But his 15/16-year-old students have a different opinion of those intentions. Throughout the year it is a constant battle of wills between Francois and his students. He tries to adjust to the ever-changing war plan of his students; sometimes his moves work and sometimes they backfire in his face.
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With Halloween nearly upon us, I took inspiration from the Eerie Books Blog’s list of 50 Must-See French Horror Movies to dedicate This Weekend’s Film Festival to foreign language horror films. We have a French, black & white, horror classic. From Austria, we have a frighteningly real story of mental torture. We have a genre-changing Japanese fright fest that curses TV viewers. Arriving from Germany, we have a 1970s remake of a classic silent horror tale. And we close with a chiller from Italy created by one of the country’s masters.
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