Monsieur Lazhar

Monsieur Lazhar (2011) is a Quebec drama directed by Philippe Falardeau — watch it online on iFILM. Mohamed Fellag plays Bachir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant who walks into a Montreal elementary school the morning after its teacher is found dead, and talks his way into a substitute position.

The children are still in shock. Bachir teaches the old way — Balzac, dictation, sit up straight — while the school around him runs grief workshops and liability meetings. He keeps his own story sealed: he filed for asylum after losing his family in Algeria, and any day an immigration order could end what he's carefully built with these kids. Bachir and his students are each hiding a grief they can barely name, and the film is patient enough to let that sit.

The film competed for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Quiet and specific, it's the kind of drama that earns its final scene. Stream Monsieur Lazhar (2011) online on iFILM.