Entre les murs (The Class). 2008. France. Directed by Laurent Cantet. Screenplay by Cantet, François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, based on a book by Bégaudeau. With Bégaudeau, Franck Keïta, Cécile Lagarde, Esmeralda Ouertani, Rachel Regulier. 35mm. In French, Bambara; English subtitles. 128 min.
Based on the novel by former high-school teacher François Bégaudeau, who also stars in the film, The Class took the Cannes Film Festival by storm and won France’s first Palme d’Or since Maurice Pialat’s Under the Sun of Satan in 1987. Celebrated for its remarkable, improvisation-based mise-en-scène and authentic depiction of a well-meaning teacher who struggles to connect with working-class students in a Parisian school, The Class offers a uniquely honest look at the multicultural tensions and prejudices of 21st-century French society.