Laurent Cantet

Laurent Cantet (born 11 April 1961 – 25 April 2024) was a celebrated French director, screenwriter, and cinematographer, hailing from Melle, Deux-Sèvres in western France. He achieved fame with his film Entre les murs (The Class), which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Cantet, the son of schoolteachers, attended university in Marseille where he pursued study in photography before joining the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris, graduating in 1986.

His initial work was in television, before assisting Marcel Ophuls for Veillées d'armes, a documentary about the siege of Sarajevo. His professional career began with short films, featuring work often produced in collaboration with film school colleagues. Cantet's first feature film, Ressources humaines (Human Resources, 1999), achieved critical acclaim and won two César awards. He co-wrote the screenplay with Gilles Marchand. He continued his exploration of social and employment issues in films such as L'Emploi du temps (Time Out, 2001), Vers le sud (Heading South, 2005), and Entre les murs (The Class, 2008), which collectively secured his reputation as a socially-conscious filmmaker. His later works took him to Canada for Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang (2012) and to Havana for Retour à Ithaque (Return to Ithaca, 2014). Cantet's socially aware cinema also led him to support the cause of illegal migrant workers in France, pointing the spotlight on the work and living conditions of these often marginalised groups. He passed away at the age of 63 in Paris.