Fresno Filmworks
Festival Buzz: views

  • THE CLASS

  • Saturday, April 18, 2009
  • 8 p.m.
  • The Tower Theatre
  • 815 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno [map]
  • $10 General Admission
  • $8 Students / Seniors
  • buy tickets →

“This is one of the screen’s most rewarding explorations of the teacher/student relationship in any language. Every voice we hear makes sense; every opinion means something.”
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“The Class is not just the best film released thus far this year. It may be the most gripping. “
John Anderson, The Washington Post

“The movie is bursting with life, energy, fears, frustrations and the quick laughter of a classroom hungry for relief.”
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Watch the Trailer

Synopsis

The French drama Entre les Murs (The Class) won the Golden Palm Award for director Laurent Cantet at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The film, based on the novel of the same name, is the semi-autobiographical story of François and his fellow teachers, who prepare for a new year at a junior high school in a tough Paris neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their multiracial students. But cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. As amusing and inspiring as the teenaged students can be, their difficult behavior can still jeopardize any teacher’s enthusiasm for the low-paying job. François insists on an atmosphere of respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to openly challenge his methods. In French, with English subtitles.
Screening Sponsor: L’Alliance Française de Fresno

Directed by Laurent Cantet
France, 2008, 35mm
2 hrs 8 min, Rated PG-13
http://www.sonyclassics.com/theclass/

Purchase Tickets Online

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Enter the number of Festival Passes or individual tickets you wish to purchase and click the “PayPal buy now” button. This will launch a new window containing your PayPal shopping cart. Please print out and bring your PayPal email receipt so we can verify your purchase at pick-up time. Passes and/or tickets can be picked up at the ticket booth in front of the Tower Theatre before the film starts.

Purchase a Festival Pass:
Festival Pass – $50

Purchase tickets for this screening only:
General Admission – $10
Students & Seniors – $8

Advance tickets may also be purchased at the following locations: