Sunday, November 1  8 p.m. DOUBLE FEATURE

THE CLASS [Entre les murs]
(2008, France)
128 minutes
Director: Laurent Cantet
Starring: François Bégaudeau

In 2006, journalist and teacher François Bégaudeau published a book called Entre les Murs that chronicled his experience during a year at an inner city middle school in Paris. Laurence Cantet (Time Out, Human Resources) transformed the book into a documentary-style drama that stars Bégaudeau himself as teacher as well as a cast of non-professional actors as his students. The film takes on difficult questions of discipline and the reproduction of race, gender, and class norms in a student population that is made up mostly of poor and working-class immigrants.

**This film screening counts toward the accredited Film Culture Program, so a short discussion will follow.  All are welcome.

BLACKBOARD JUNGLE
(1955, USA)
101 minutes
Director: Richard Brooks
Starring: Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier

A class social problem film, and a precursor to many later films featuring a white, middle-class teacher in a “tough” school, Blackboard Jungle offers a portrait of juvenile delinquency and educational failure in the schools. The film deals with the attempt to maintain authority in a chaotic situation as well as the racial and class divides that structure the classroom. Known for its rock-and-roll style (the soundtrack includes Bill Haley and the Comet’s “Rock Around the Clock”), this film also features an appearance by Sidney Poitier as a young tough before he went on to play the heroic teacher of To Sir, With Love.

**This film screening counts toward the accredited Film Culture Program, so a short discussion will follow.  All are welcome.