Cannes Winner "The Class" to Open NY Film Festival

''The Class,'' winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, will open the 46th annual New York Film Festival.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center, which produces the festival, announced Tuesday that it will give the opening night honor to Laurent Cantet's drama about classroom life at a French junior high school.

The docudrama was shot with real students and teachers in a raw, improvisational style to chronicle the drama that unfolds over one school year. ''The Class (Entre les murs)'' was unanimously selected for the main prize at Cannes by a nine-member jury headed by Sean Penn.

It's the second film by Cantet to play at the New York Film Festival following his acclaimed ''Time Out'' in 2001.

''Laurent Cantet has pioneered a new kind of social cinema,'' said selection committee chairman Richard Pena in a statement, ''one that explores the key issues of our day, from contemporary labor struggles to First World/Third World relations and now to education.''

This year's festival, which runs from Sept. 26 through Oct. 12, will be held at the Ziegfeld Theater due to ongoing renovations at the event's traditional home, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

Unlike most film festivals, the New York Film Festival doesn't give awards, but showcases a very select group of movies.

Also announced Tuesday is a showcase that will be held during the festival in tribute to the Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima.

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