The challenges of adapting to American culture in a post-9/11 world are at the forefront of the new drama THIS TEACHER.
Directed by Mark Jackson from a script he co-wrote with Dana Thompson, THIS TEACHER is the tale of a French-Tunisian Parisienne, Hafsia (Hafsia Herzi) who arrives in Manhattan to stay for a bit with her childhood friend Sarah / Zahra (Sarah Kazemy), a sophisticate of an actress who has a husband, Heath, who is keen for her to bear a child in the next phase of her life and who has just managed to secure the first call-back on a new acting role, which they celebrate.
However, the childhood bond is not as strong for Hafsia and Sarah. Soon enough, some toxicity begins to creep in with Hafsia advised to find her own space so she can get more in sync with her new life in the Big Apple. With access to Sarah’s social media and her bank account, Hafsia poses as Sarah and decides to take up the offer of an up-state New York remote cabin with no lock, situated in hundreds of acres of wilderness.
The cabin has no electricity, which proves to be a source of frustration and leads to her dumping her smartphone with regret into a nearby stream. The isolation, as well as her own desire to be by herself, begins to take its’ toll on her well-being and character, but there are certain specifics of cultural interpretation that also are bubbling under the surface….
Although at times a little drawn-out, specifically because you are questioning what led the lead protagonist to do what she did, THIS TEACHER does spring with energy during a rather provocative climax that heightens a lot of the mind-set that many have felt over the last quarter of a century.
At a time when the global, political and social climate is undergoing tremendous change with recent environmental and humanitarian events, the film also taps into much of what has led us to this place in the world with the context of loss in terms of perspective and personal feelings – and as we have discovered recently, human nature does have a short attention and memory span with how history pans out, both in terms of forgetting and reminding us of the fragility of life and our place in the world.
There are familiar elements of drama to THIS TEACHER and perhaps it is time to start addressing the overall legacy as a healing tool, so we can try and resolve the resentment that some past events have prompted, but it will be a long and arduous road for some.
