Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Acting
Non-professional students; you cannot tell who's acting.
Direction
Cantet's invisible hand makes fiction feel like documentary.
Writing
Bégaudeau adapting his own novel with brutal honesty.
Director
Laurent Cantet
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Palme d'Or winner and the first French film to win since 1987; shot in a real school with students who'd never acted.
Bégaudeau's actual teaching experience informed every scene—Sandra's 'I learn nothing' complaint mirrors real student grievances he couldn't resolve.
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