A teacher struggling with his past in a classroom of children dealing with their own trauma is the subject of Monday's Golden Ears Movie Series film at The ACT.

GEMS presents Monsieur Lazhar, written and directed by Philippe Falardeau, starring Mohamed Said Fellag and Sophie Nelisse.

In Montreal, an elementary school teacher kills herself. Bashir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant, is quickly hired to replace her even though he is still recovering from a personal tragedy of his own, and the fact that he was never a formal teacher. He gets to know his students despite the cultural gap evident from the very first day of class. As the children try to move on from their former teacher's suicide, nobody at the school is aware of Bashir's painful past, or his precarious status as a refugee.

Monsieur Lazhar (PG) will be shown Monday, Nov. 26 at 7: 30 p.m. at The ACT. The movie is in French with English subtitles. Single tickets are $11 and are available at the ticket centre, at 604-476-2787, or at www.theactmapleridge.org.