His first feature film , '' The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge ( La Moitié gauche du frigo ) '' ( 2000 ) won Best Canadian First Feature at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival and received a Best Screenplay nomination at the Quebec-based Jutra Awards . Falardeau also received the Claude Jutra Award at the Canadian Genies ( now called Canadian Screen Awards ) , in 2001 for this film . For his work on his second film , '' Congorama '' ( 2006 ) , Falardeau won a Genie Award in 2007 for Best Original Screenplay . Falardeau received much press attention following the release of his 2011 film '' Monsieur Lazhar . '' The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival , where it won the Audience Award and the Variety Piazza Grande Award . It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011 , the Whistler Film Festival in December 2011 , and selected for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival . Following a wave of critical acclaim , the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards , and also won six Canadian Screen Awards , including Best Motion Picture . At Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds a rating of 97 % , based on 110 reviews and an average rating of 8.1 / 10
84th Academy Awards
84th Academy Awards
Philippe Falardeau