'The Class' bags Palme d'Or at Cannes

London, May 26: French movie 'The Class' has bagged the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film, about life in a tough Paris school, was awarded the prize by a jury headed by Sean Penn, reports BBC. 'The Class,' directed by Laurent Cantet, uses real students and teachers to chronicle a year in their lives.

Hunger, a portrayal of the last six weeks of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands' life, won the Camera d'Or award for best first feature film. Benicio Del Toro was awarded best actor for his lead role in Steven Soderbergh's biopic of Cuban revolutionary 'Che Guevara.' The award for best actress went to Brazilian star Sandra Corveloni for playing a pregnant mother of four in Sao Paolo in 'Line of Passage.'

Clint Eastwood and Catherine Deneuve were honoured with the lifetime achievement awards at the French festival's closing ceremony.

The list of winners:

1. Palme d'Or - The Class

2. Grand Prix - Gomorrah

3. Special prizes - Clint Eastwood and Catherine Deneuve

4. Best director - Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys

5. Jury prize - Il Divo directed by Paolo Sorrentino

6. Best actor - Benicio del Toro (above) in Che

7. Best actress - Sandra Corveloni in Line of Passage

8. Best screenplay - Lorna's Silence by Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne

9. Camera d'Or - Hunger

ANI