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A Special Screening of ENTRE LES MURS, in Memory of Laurent Cantet, at the 22nd FICM

Gustavo R. Gallardo

As a tribute to French filmmaker Laurent Cantet, a close friend of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), a special screening of his film Entre les mures (2008) and his medium-length film Tous a la manif was presented.

Cantet, who died in April this year, was a special guest at the 2015, 2017 and 2022 editions of FICM. “He was a very dear friend and greatly admired... a great filmmaker, a great humanist, a great teacher,” said the festival's director and founder, Daniela Michel.

Entre les mures won the Palme d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, with Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, who unexpectedly arrived at Cinépolis Morelia Centro’s room 2 to present the film, as part of the jury.

“Everybody knew which films were going to win at Cannes, but when we saw Entre les mures it was a unanimous decision. It's a really beautiful film,” said Cuarón.

“It has a tremendously human vision towards characters who are not privileged. If you haven't seen it, you're giving yourself a wonderful gift,” said the Mexican filmmaker.

On his part, the general delegate of the Biarritz Latin American Film Festival and former director of the Cannes Critics' Week, Jean-Christophe Berjon, spoke at length about Laurent Cantet filmography, saying it has “ a great deal of finesse.”

French filmmaker Ronald Chammah, also present at the screening, said FICM gave him the opportunity to get to know Laurent Cantet better, discovering in him “a great artist and a great human being."

In Entre les mures, François is a young French teacher in a troubled school, located in a slum. Enthusiastic and with the best intentions, he prepares to start a new course. François insists on maintaining an atmosphere of respect and tolerance. However, his ethics will be put to the test when his students begin to question his teaching methods.