Actors from Cannes Winner "The Class" Given Hero's Welcome
Classmates of the actors show their support.
The Class became the first French film to win the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival in 21 years, and their teachers and students greeted the teenage actors who returned home with a hero's welcome on Monday. To go along with the students and teachers who waved feverishly from the windows of the school, reporters, television crews and fans showed their exuberance over the prestigious award.
The film is expected to shed light on the currently chaotic education system in France, where classrooms are often severely overcrowded and protests have been made by both teachers and students over the current situation.
Jean-Claude Defaux, the principal of the school where the film was shot last summer, said, "We knew there would be a prize when the judges asked the students to stay for the awards ceremony, but no one expected the Palme d'Or." Now, with the film receiving an incredible amount of hype, many in France are hoping that it could eventually result in improvements to the education system to correct the current flaws.
