The Class (2008 film)

The Class
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLaurent Cantet
Screenplay byLaurent Cantet
François Bégaudeau
Robin Campillo
Based onEntre les murs
by François Bégaudeau
Produced bySimon Arnal
Caroline Benjo
Barbra Letellier
Carole Scotta
StarringFrançois Bégaudeau
CinematographyPierre Milon
Catherine Pujol
Edited byRobin Campillo
Stephanie Leger
Distributed byHaut et Court
Release dates
  • 24 May 2008 (2008-05-24) (Cannes)
  • 24 September 2008 (2008-09-24) (France)
Running time
128 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget€2.5 million[1]
Box office$29.3 million[2]

The Class (French: Entre les murs, lit.'Between the walls') is a 2008 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau. The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Bégaudeau's experiences as a French language and literature teacher in a middle school in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, particularly illuminating his struggles with "problem children": Esmerelda (Esmeralda Ouertani), Khoumba (Rachel Regulier), and Souleymane (Franck Keïta). The film stars Bégaudeau himself in the role of the teacher.[3]

The film received a unanimous Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first French film to do so since 1987, when Maurice Pialat won the award for Under the Sun of Satan. The Class was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but lost to Departures.

  1. ^ "Entre les murs". JP's Box-Office.
  2. ^ "The Class (2008)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  3. ^ Manohla Dargis (26 September 2008). "Laurent Cantet's 'The Class': Learning to be the future of France". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2017.