MOVIE · 2008

The Class

Drama128 min

François Bégaudeau is a version of himself, beginning a new school year as a French language teacher in a middle school in Paris’s 20th arrondissement, where even ordinary lessons can turn into arguments over language, manners, and authority. Among the students, Esmeralda (Esmeralda Ouertani) is one of several outspoken teenagers pushing back against rules, assignments, and the teacher at the front of the room. As the year unfolds, classroom debates, disciplinary meetings, and small misunderstandings build a close-up view of a diverse group of adolescents and the adults trying to reach them.