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Real life French teacher François Bégaudeau plays an on-screen version of himself in "The Class/Entre les murs" (held over at Landmark's La Jolla Village Theaters), based on his book about his own classroom experiences. We discussed the film on last month's Film Club but I also wanted to highlight the film on my blog. Director Laurent Cantet (who also made "Time Out" and "Heading South") collaborated with Bégaudeau to bring his story to the screen. The ressult is a documentary style portrait of teaching in a contemporary French school. Cantet chose to shoot multiple improvised takes using real students and multiple cameras to chronicle what happens in a single classroom of middle school age students. The film was nominated this year for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and took home the Palm D'Or at Cannes. While there were definitely more worthy films to pick as the best of the year, the Cannes Award is telling because it reflects France's need and maybe desire to try and come to terms with its increasing multi-ethnice make-up, a fact that's been harder to ignore inlight of recent riots and protests.

The Sister Study, a project sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, wants to hear from 50,000 women whose sisters have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Researchers hope findings from the study will offer insight into the interaction of genetics and the environment may have in the role of harboring the disease.

When America elected its first African-American president in November, the country made huge strides in overcoming its racially biased past. Does this mean that the U.S. has moved beyond racial discr

Words spoken by U.S. Atty. General Eric Holder this week at a Black History program have rekindled a widespread debate on America's rocky history of race relations. Holder said that the U.S. is, in many ways, "a nation of cowards" when it comes to addressing and resolving prevalent tensions. A panel explores why race remains a subject many wish to ignore.

The answer is I don't know and I don't think the filmmakers (which include original director Sean S. Cunningham) know either. All I think they had on their mind was to cash in on the franchise while they still could.

Israelis go to the polls Tuesday for parliamentary elections. Steve Clemons, political blogger for The Washington Note and director of American strategy at the New America Foundation, explains why he thinks the U.S. needs Israelis to elect Benjamin Netanyahu as their prime minister.

I phoned one of my best friends in the late afternoon of Inauguration Day, during that brief calm between the end of the Inauguration Parade and the beginning of the inauguration balls. That's when the Obamas were out of public view as they changed into ball gown and tuxedo. I knew my buddy would have to take a breather from her marathon TV watching and that would probably be the right time. I guessed correctly. But what I didn't count on was the huge emotional hangover she was suffering or enjoying. She told me she had cried all day and couldn't talk until she recovered from the onslaught of tears. So I'm giving her space. But during the next call, I'll want to know exactly why she cried and what does she want the American public to do next.

The People's Role in the Obama Years

What are some of the most common misconceptions about people from the Middle East? How does current U.S. President George W. Bush compare to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? What's funny about

Morning Edition is speaking this week with thinkers and scholars overseas about the transition from the Bush presidency to the Obama administration. We turn now to Africa. Renee Montagne talks with Veronique Tadjo, an author, poet and painter from Ivory Coast. She teaches in Johannesburg, South Africa, and gives workshops across Africa.