A film tied to real-life was awarded the Palme d’Or this year at the Cannes Film Festival. The jury, presided over by the dedicated and outspoken actor Sean Penn, has given the top prize to this film directed by Laurent Cantet, who presents social reality in a French school without embellishment of any kind. ”The Class” recounts the struggle of a teacher to be heard and the worries and priorities of a group of adolescent students. The Palme d’Or has returned to France 20 years after director Maurice Pialat won the award for Sous le Soleil de Satan. Another story of realism, this time about the Naples of the Camorra, won the jury’s Grand Prix. In Gomorra, Italian director Mateo Garrone has created a daring story, without compromises, on the sordid conditions of life imposed by the Neapolitan Mafia in every facet of society. In the awards given to actors, there were no surprises when the Puerto Rican Benicio del Toro was called up to the podium to receive the Best Actor award for his performance as Che Guevara. On the other hand, the Best Actress award was surprising, going to the Brazilian Sandra Corveloni, new protagonist of the film by Walter Salles, Linha de passe. Most talked about, though, was the award for Best Director given to the Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan for his film Three Monkeys, as all bets were on Clint Eastwood, a good friend of the president of the jury and director of the highly acclaimed film Changeling (also known as The Exchange). The long-time director had to settle for the “special jury award”, which completely unexpected. The Dardenne brothers, repeat winners at the festival, having won the Palme d’Or twice before, also were called to the podium to receive the award for Best Screenplay this year for The Silence of Lorna, a film on the drama of immigration.