Between the Walls

At the beginning of the new semester, teachers and students returned to an ordinary community school. François Marin (François Bégaudeau), a French teacher and head teacher, continues to teach in a frank and somewhat argumentative way when facing a new class of first-year students. These 14-year-old students are active thinkers and often question Marin or bicker and spread gossip in the relaxed classroom. Marin has to interrupt the progress again and again to solve countless trivial problems. This school has immigrant students from many countries, and the problems that come with it are often reflected in classroom details. Marin tries to help students find self-esteem, but these children who are good at giving teachers headaches don't seem to accept Marin's words. The bickering in the classroom and the hostility of some students to the teacher make hidden conflicts likely to break out at any time. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2008 and stars François Bégaudeau, the original author and screenwriter of the novel.