University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

The story unfolds almost entirely inside a school in a working-class district in Paris. Francois is a tough but fair teacher whose honest demeanor has made him a great success with students. But this year things are different . His 13- and 14-year-old students are challenging his teaching methods. A rainbow coalition of sullen boys and mouthy girls of African, Arab and Asian descent, they live in a country that insists its citizens have only one cultural identity. But, these young people don't feel part of that identity and their resentment is ever present in the classroom.