French director Laurent Cantet, winner of the Palme d’Or for the film “Between the School Walls”, dies

O French director of cinema Laurent Cantetwinner of Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the film “Between the School Walls” (2008), died this Thursday (25), aged 63. The cause has not been officially disclosed.

Winner of the top prize at one of the biggest festivals in the world, “Between the Walls” adapts a semi-autobiographical book by writer François Bégaudeau about his experiences as a literature teacher at a school with students from different social backgrounds in Paris.

The film is available to watch in Brazil on the Reserva Imovision streaming platform.

Watch the trailer for “Between the School Walls”:

+ Cannes Festival 2024: “Motel Destino”, a film by Karim Aïnouz, competes for the Palme d’Or; see list

“Between the Walls” competed for the Oscar for best international film in 2009, but lost to the Japanese “The Departure” (2008), by Yojiro Takita.

Cantet was about to start filming a new feature film, “Enzo”, in August, with Élodie Bouchez and Pierfrancesco Favino in the cast.

Career

The filmmaker studied at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC), in Paris, where he graduated in 1986.

After working on television and writing short films, Cantet debuted in feature films with “Human Resources” (1999), winner of the César award, a kind of French Oscar, in the category of best debut film.

The director’s career also included films such as “Towards the South” (2005), which competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and “Arthur Rambo: Ódio nas Redes” (2021), his latest work.