I was born in a big hosptial. In France. I am French.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0139249/

Watching a movie based on a book of the same title. The author is the current Minister of Equal Opportunity For All (or something equally ridiculous) It is the autobiography of his youth growing up in a slum for Algerian immigrants near Lyon. It is about his success in school, the struggles of speaking Arabic at home in a French society, the misery of the conditions in the slum.

The book was fairly amusing, but not incredible. I hpoe the movie will be better. It got some big prize at Cannes in 1997 or 1998.

Oh, and rather than actually writing notes I am going to post important quotes/events from the movie here so that I can use them later when I write about it.

Il y a de la boue partout. Par terre, sur les ve^tements des enfants, sur la nourriture. On est en pleine misere au Chaa^ba, mais Azouz essaie toujours de trouver un peu d'espoir, tel rare qu'elle soit dans des conditions assez de'plorable.

There is mud everywhere. On the ground, on the clothes of the children, on their food. There seems to be nothing but misery in Chaaba, but Azouz (the protagonist) always tries to find a little bit of hope, no matter how rare it may be in such deplorable conditions.

On est impressione' par la severite' du pere par rapport a ses enfants. Il les appelle "diables," et bien su^r il plaisante mais je crois qu'au fond de son coeur il le croit, me^me si c'est juste un peu.

The father is so strict with his children that it leaves quite an impression. He calls them "devils" and rest assured, he is just joking, but I believe that perhaps just a little, in the back of his mind, he believes it.