Laurent Cantet was a French director, cinematographer and screenwriter. His film Entre les murs won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

The Class is a 2008 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau. The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Bégaudeau's experiences as a French language and literature teacher in a middle school in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, particularly illuminating his struggles with "problem children": Esmerelda, Khoumba, and Souleymane. The film stars Bégaudeau himself in the role of the teacher.