François Bégaudeau (; born 27 April 1971) is a French

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and essayist. He is best known for co-writing and starring in '' Entre les murs'' (2008), a film based on his 2006 novel of the same name. The film won the Palme d'Or at the

2008 Cannes Film Festival The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2008. American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Laurent Cantet won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for th ...

and received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Early life

He was born in Luçon, Vendée,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and was a member of the 1990s

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

group Zabriskie Point. After receiving his degree in

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, he taught

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Dreux and in an inner city

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Career

Bégaudeau published his first novel, ''Jouer juste'' in 2003. In 2005, he published ''Dans la diagonale'' and ''Un démocrate, Mick Jagger 1960-1969'', a fictionalized account of the life of Mick Jagger. In 2006, his third novel entitled '' Entre les murs'' earned him the Prix France Culture/Télérama. Bégaudeau works as a movie critic for the '' Cahiers du cinéma''. He was also a regular contributor for several French magazines, including ''Inculte'', ''Transfuge'' and ''So Foot.'' Since 2006, he has been a columnist for ''La Matinale'' and ''Le Cercle'' on Canal+ television. He worked on the screenplay for '' Entre les murs'' (2008), a film based on his 2006 novel of the same name, in collaboration with the film's director Laurent Cantet. Bégaudeau also starred as the lead in the film, which went on to win the Palme d'Or at the

. The film also earned an

nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in

, though it ultimately lost to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's '' Departures''. The English-language version of ''Entre les murs'' was published in April 2009 by Seven Stories Press under the title ''The Class''.

Works

* ''Jouer juste'', Éditions Verticales, 2003 * ''Dans la diagonale'', Éditions Verticales, 2005 * ''Un démocrate : Mick Jagger 1960-1969'', Naïve Records, 2005 * '' Entre les murs'', Éditions Verticales, 2006 * Collaboration for ''Débuter dans l'enseignement : Témoignages d'enseignants, conseils d'experts'', ESF, 2006 * Collaboration for ''Devenirs du roman'', Naïve Records, 2007 * Collaboration for ''Une année en France : Réferendum/banlieues/CPE'', Gallimard, 2007 * ''Fin de l'histoire'', Éditions Verticales, 2007 * ''Vers la Douceur'', Éditions Verticales, 2009 * ''Histoire de ta bêtise'', Éditions Fayard/Pauvert, 2019 * ''Notre Joie'', Éditions Fayard/Pauvert, 2021

References

External links

Official site with photos and videos of François Bégaudeau

Short biography with a photo of François Bégaudeau
in French
Interview with François Bégaudeau
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Begaudeau, Francois 1971 births Living people People from Luçon 21st-century French non-fiction writers French male film actors French film critics French male non-fiction writers