Last weekend, on May 25, the Film Festival of Cannes ended with the award ceremony where the jury awards the best films of the festival with several awards, including the Palme d’Or. The filmfestival was amazing this year and I followed it every day all the way from home. Here is a little recap of the filmfestival.
The festival opened on May 14 with the French comedy-film The Second Act directed by Quentin Dupieux. A lot of great films from big names followed, including Furiosa in the presence of director George Miller and stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth; Megalopolis in the presence of director Francis Ford Coppola and the cast; Horizon: An American Saga in the presence of director and star Kevin Costner; The Apprentice in the presence of director Ali Abbasi and Sebastian Stan who plays Donald Trump in the film; Bird in the presence of director Andrea Arnold and stars Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski; Emilia Pérez in the presence of director Jacques Audiard and Selena Gomez; Kinds of Kindness in the presence of director Yorgos Lanthimos and the cast; Oh, Canada in the presence of director Paul Schrader and stars Richard Gere and Uma Thurman; The Shrouds in the presence of director David Cronenberg and stars Diane Kruger, Vincent Cassel and Guy Pearce; and The Substance in the presence of director Coralie Fargeat and stars Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid.
One of the last films that premiered at Cannes was The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who had to flee his country. He was present at the premiere with some of the cast of the film. On the red carpet, Rasoulof held up images of stars Soheila Golestani and Missagh Zareh, who were unable to leave Iran for the premiere, and had their passports confiscated. The film received a 12 minute standing ovation, while the cast and crew protested in solidarity with Iranian women fighting for their rights.
During the festival, three Honorary Palme d’Or were also awarded: the first was awarded to Meryl Streep during the festival’s opening ceremony, the second was awarded to Studio Ghibli, and the third was awarded to George Lucas during the festival’s closing ceremony.
In the closing ceremony the jury, with filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig who serves as jury president for the main competition, awarded the best films. Here are the winners:
- Palme d’Or: Anora by Sean Baker
- Grand Prix: All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia
- Jury Prize: Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard
- Best Director: Miguel Gomes for Grand Tour
- Best Actress: Adriana Paz, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez
- Best Actor: Jesse Plemons for Kinds of Kindness
- Best Screenplay: The Substance by Coralie Fargeat
- Special Prize: The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof
- Un Certain Regard: Black Dog from director Guan Hu
- Un Certain Regard Jury Prize: The Story of Souleymane by Boris Lojkine
- Un Certain Regard Best Director: The Damned by Roberto Minervini and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl by Rungano Nyoni
- Un Certain Regard Performance Prize: Anasuya Sengupta for The Shameless and Abou Sangare for The Story of Souleymane
- Un Certain Regard Youth Prize: Holy Cow by Louise Courvoisier
- Special Mention: Norah by Tawfik Alzaidi
- Caméra d’Or: Armand by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
- Short Film Palme d’Or: The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent from director Nebojša Slijepčević
Six To See 
Leave a comment