There are some sights a child was never meant to see. When a group of Montreal students finds their beloved teacher hanging from the ceiling of their elementary school classroom, the shock of the incident is, needless to say, traumatizing. Her replacement, Algerian refugee Bachir Lazhar (Monhamed Fellag), now has the doubly difficult task of reaching his distraught students while securing his own asylum from past tragedies in his homeland.

Writer-director Phillipe Falardeau (adapting a play by Évelyne de la Cheneliére) tackles these topics with a delicate touch, bringing wit and warmth to the classroom scenes and granting the heavier material an appropriate gravity. It’s not often that you see elementary school and global politics sharing a screen, but MONSIEUR LAZHAR makes the fit an entirely natural one, as Bachir and his students come to terms with loss, guilt, and other issues that life has prematurely thrown at them. It’s an inspiring character study that earns every one of its heart-warming moments the hard way – through insight, empathy, and eloquence.

Exiled Algerian comic & political dissident Fellag can also be seen in TOP FLOOR LEFT WING playing at CIFF 2011.