Director Laurent Cantet, Palme d’Or in 2008 for his film ‘Entre les murs’ (The Class), has died in Paris at the age of 63. He was working on a film project entitled ‘L’Apprenti’ (The Apprentice), which was due to be released in 2025. He was born in Melle, New-Aquitaine, on 11 April 1961. He had made his debut with a formative period in television and then as assistant director to Marcel Ophuls for ‘Veillées d’armes’, a film about the siege of Sarajevo in 1994.
Cantet’s debut as a director came with the documentary ‘Un été à Beyrouth’ (1990) and the short film ‘Tous à la manif’ (1994, Jean Vigo Award). When his first film, ‘Human Resources’ from 1999 (winner of two César Awards), arrives in theaters, Cantet is already a mature filmmaker and aware of wanting to dedicate his work to the reality of ordinary people, to those who struggle to get to the end of the month, to social issues. The subsequent ‘L’emploi du temps’ and ‘Towards the South’ (made in the early 2000s) place him at the head of a new movement in French cinema, capable of breaking away from the models of the Nouvelle Vague. And when his ‘Entre les murs’ – a portrait full of empathy and passion towards the world of youth with all its fears and hopes – arrived at Cannes in 2008, it won the Palme d’Or by popular acclaim, upsetting all predictions and earning 30 million dollars worldwide. Four years later he returns to Cannes with ‘7 días en La Habana’, a segment of the collective film ‘La fuente’ which will win in the Un Certain Regard section. In 2014 he dedicated ‘Retour à Ithaque’ (Return to Ithaca), the jewel of the Authors’ Day at the Venice Film Festival of that year, to the Caribbean island. His career was completed in 2017 with ‘L’atélier’ and ‘Arthur Rambo’ (2021), films about the new generation of French Maghrebians.
Always committed to the defense of authors and social minorities, in 2010 Cantet fought alongside the ‘sans papier’ for the protection of immigrants and entertainment workers; in 2017 he founded the first digital platform (La Cineteck) for the protection of French film heritage and supported the cause of the 50/50 collective for gender equality; last December he signed, together with 50 colleagues, the open letter requesting a ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza and for the defense of Palestinian civilians and the return of Israeli hostages.
Laurent Cantet spent a life for what he considered the “right causes” and dedicated his cinema to the most vital voices capable of fighting the distortions of society. With him, world cinema loses a very pure voice, free from any compromise and capable of a rare humanity, on and off the set. ATS/RED
