The jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival has delivered a list of winners, which, in line with the last five editions, seems to take into account or follow the tastes of the public (Ostlund, Lukas Dhont, Dardennes, Park Chan Wook, Kore Eda have proposed films that will undoubtedly be exploitation successes, James Gray could have accompanied them, the prize for best actor also goes to a very popular actor) more than it sought to enlighten them in a strong artistic direction (Awarding Les Amandiers would have generated a debate on the presence of Lindon‘s daughter in the cast, the film also having an elitist aspect, a reproach that would surely have fallen on Martone‘s Nostalgia, and even more on Serra‘s Pacifiction which will unfortunately be destined to confidentiality, Mungiu‘s political firebrand will probably struggle to gather a large audience).
More than playing our role of critics dissatisfied with a prize list that is not ours – that’s the principle, and so much the better that it is so! – let’s salute the few courageous gestures of the jury, with regard to this rather homogeneous selection but which probably suffered from a lack of indisputable masterpieces – let’s go back to 2011! -that of giving Jerzy Skolimowski a prize that rewards the work of an accomplished and radical artist, with such a young spirit despite his great age, that of honoring Claire Denis for a film that was strangely badly received, (hissed by some), atmospheric, a sort of The Passenger that gives pride of place to female gas, and finally, to award the prize for best actress to an Iranian actress in exile, for her role in a thriller (directed by a Danish director of Iranian origin), which includes precisely everything that would be censored in Iran. In awarding the prize for the screenplay to Boy From Heaven, written by Tarik Saleh, a Swedish-born director of Egyptian origin, which takes as its setting the political-religious power games in Egypt, the Vincent Lindon jury also sought to send a message of freedom to the world. Sweden and Belgium are the two big winners this year, with three prizes for the former, and two for the latter.
Here are the winners of the seventy-fifth Cannes Film Festival:
Feature Films
Palme d’or
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS directed by Ruben ÖSTLUND
The award was presented by the Mexican director Alfonso CUARÓN and the French actor Vincent LINDON, president of the Feature Film Jury.
Grand Prize tie
CLOSE directed by Lukas DHONT
STARS AT NOON directed by Claire DENIS
The awards were presented by the Spanish actor Javier BARDEM, the Iranian director Asghar FARHADI and the Norwegian director and screenwriter Joachim TRIER
Director’s Award
PARK Chan-wook for HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (DECISION TO LEAVE)
The award was presented by the Danish director Nicolas WINDING REFN and the British writer, director, actress and producer Rebecca HALL
Best Script Price
Tarik SALEH for WALAD MIN AL JANNA (BOY FROM HEAVEN)
The award was presented by the Venezuelan actor Édgar RAMÍREZ and the Indian actress and producer Deepika PADUKONE
Joint Jury Prize
EO directed by Jerzy SKOLIMOWSKI
THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS directed by Charlotte VANDERMEERSCH & Felix VAN GROENINGEN
The awards were presented by the Italian actress and director Alice and Alba ROHRWACHER and by the Italian actress and director Jasmine TRINCA
Prize of the 75th
TORI AND LOKITA directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc DARDENNE
The award was presented by the French actress Carole BOUQUET and the French director Ladj LY
Prize for Best Actress
Zar AMIR EBRAHIMI in HOLY SPIDER directed by Ali ABBASI
The award was presented by the French actor and director Guillaume CANET and the Swedish actress Noomi RAPACE
Award for Best Actor
SONG Kang-ho in BROKER directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu
The award was presented by the German actress Diane KRUGER and the American director and screenwriter Jeff NICHOLS
Short Films
Golden Palm
HAI BIAN SHENG QI YI ZUO XUAN YA (THE WATER MURMURS)
directed by JIANYING CHEN
Special Mention
LORI directed by Abinash Bikram SHAH
Golden Camera
WAR PONY directed by Riley KEOUGH and Gina GAMMELL
presented as part of the Official Selection UN CERTAIN REGARD
Special Mention
PLAN 75 directed by HAYAKAWA Chie
The awards were presented by the Spanish actress Rossy DE PALMA, President of the Golden Camera Jury.