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Kitchen Stove goes to school

Monsieur Lazhar, by Quebecois director Philippe Falardeau, tells the story of Bachir Lazhar, a middle aged Algerian immigrant.
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Monsieur Lazhar uses the classroom to touch on many themes

The first film in the Kitchen Stove Spring film series for 2012 is already making great waves, with nominations for not only the Prix Jutra, Quebec’s film awards, but it’s also in the running for a best foreign-language film Oscar and was a favourite at the Genie Awards, racking up nine nominations.

Monsieur Lazhar, adapted from Evelyne de la Chenelière’s play by Quebecois director Philippe Falardeau, tells the story of Bachir Lazhar, a middle aged Algerian immigrant. Following the tragic death of a well-loved Montreal elementary schoolteacher, Lazhar steps in to fill the sudden vacancy and come to the aid of the shocked students. His traditional teaching methods provide just the structure the grieving students require to bring normalcy back into their lives.

As Lazhar becomes accepted, his complicated history is gradually revealed to show how his personal struggles and experiences have well prepared him to guide these children to recovery.

“It’s a story that takes you to a place that very few people have an opportunity to go, that I think is part of the immigrant experience in Canada, where you are viewed as the other,” said Rosemarie Fulbrook, one of the organizers of the film series, which has been running for 13 years. “The film takes you into that place where the other becomes not just important to mainstream society but also beneficial and helpful to it.”

Many films have used the classroom as a setting for dramatic change, perhaps most famously Sidney Poitier’s 1967 film, To Sir With Love. Fulbrook attributes that to the school experience being common to practically everyone.

“The school experience is something we all identify with,” she said. “I think it’s where we first learn to socialize outside of the home milieu.”

In this case, Fulbrook said, while the film starts out in a place of extreme sadness — an undercurrent throughout the movie — it progresses to a place of, if not redemption, warmth and understanding.

Monsieur Lazhar will be shown at 4 and 6 p.m. on Feb. 16 at the Pen-Mar Theatre.