Cannes International Film Festival 2008

French film wins top prize in Cannes - the first French winner in Cannes since 1987.

The only big surprise on the night was the fact that Israeli animated documentary "Waltz With Bashir" went unrecognized.

CANNES, France

Entre les murs (The Class), a film set in a tough Parisian high school, won the Palme d'Or for best picture at the Cannes festival on Sunday.

Directed by Laurent Cantet, the picture based on an autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau.

"I think it would be good for all those people who claim to be able to judge youth ... in two or three aphorisms to learn something new about youth," said Begaudeau, who also plays the central teacher in the film.

The Grand Prix went to Italy's Gomorra (Gomorrah), Matteo Garrone's hard-hitting film about the world of the Camorra Naples crime network.

Jury Award: Il Divo, the Italian film a satire on the life of former prime minister Giulio Andreotti and directed by Paolo Sorrentino.

Special Prize: Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood.

Best Director: Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys.

Best Actor: Benicio del Toro, for his portrayal of the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's epic four-and-a-half hour Che.

Best Actress: Sandra Corveloni, in the Brazilian drama Linha de Passe (Line of Passage).

Best Screenplay: Belgium's Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, for Lorna's Silence.

Camera d'Or (given to debut directors): Britain's Steve McQueen, for Hunger.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/