Ingrid Bergman, poster of 2015 Cannes Film Fest
Acclaimed French director Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan won the top prize, the Palme d”Or, at the 2015 Cannes Film Fest, which concludes tonight.
Son of Saul, a powerfully Holocaust drama from first-time Hungarian filmmaker Laszlo Nemes, received the Grand Prix, the competition’s runner-up prize.
Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien received the festival’s director prize for The Assassin, a visually dazzling martial-arts epic set in ninth-century China.
Tie in Acting
The actress prize was awarded, in a tie victory, to Rooney Mara for her performance as a 1950s shopgirl in Todd Haynes’ lesbian love story, “Carol,” and to Emmanuelle Bercot for her turn as a Frenchwoman in an emotionally destructive relationship in Maiwenn’s “Mon roi.”
One of the most prominent faces of the 2015 festival, having directed the opening-night film, “Standing Tall,” Bercot gave an effusive speech during which juror Xavier Dolan could be seen brushing away tears.
Haynes accepted on behalf of Mara, who had already returned to New York from the festival. “She would be so completely blown away by this prize,” he said. “I’m just so proud of her work, I’m so privileged to have worked with Rooney. Rooney, I love you, I wish you were here.”
French actor Vincent Lindon won the actor prize for his performance as a beaten-down Everyman trying to make ends meet in Stephane Brize’s well-received social drama “The Measure of a Man.”
The jury prize was given to Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos for The Lobster, a surreal sci-fi love story set in a dystopian future where marriage and procreation are mandatory and singles are given 45 days to pair up or face grim consequences. The film, an English-language drama starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, was acquired by Alchemy during the festival.
Mexican writer-director Michel Franco received the screenplay award for Chronic, his grimly observed English-language portrait of a Los Angeles palliative-care nurse (Tim Roth) dealing with his patients and past tragedies.
“This film was born in Cannes,” Franco said onstage, referring to the fact that his 2012 film, After Lucia, won the Un Certain Regard prize from a jury presided over by Roth.
An honorary Palme was given to French director Agnes Varda, the first female recipient of the award, which was previously presented to Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood and Bernardo Bertolucci.
Camera d’Or
The Camera d”Or for best first film was awarded to Cesar Augusto Acevedo’s “Land and Shade,” a bleak drama about a Colombian family dwelling in a flame-engulfed farmland. The film proved to be one of the most laureled films of the festival, having already earned the Visionary Prize and the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize in the Critics’ Week sidebar, where it premiered.
Other contenders for the Camera d’Or included Laszlo Nemes for “Son of Saul” and Natalie Portman for her Israel-set drama, “A Tale of Love and Darkness.”
The ceremony was hosted by Lambert Wilson and featured a performance of “Just a Gigolo” by John C. Reilly and the Flyboys. Reilly, who appeared in three Cannes entries this year (“The Lobster,” “Tale of Tales” and “Les Cowboys”), presented the Camera d’Or with Sabine Azema.
COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, France)
Grand Prix: “Son of Saul” (Laszlo Nemes, Hungary)
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien, “The Assassin” (Taiwan)
Actor: Vincent Lindon, “The Measure of a Man” (France)
Actress (tie): Emmanuelle Bercot, “Mon roi” (France), and Rooney Mara, “Carol” (U.K.)
Jury Prize: Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Lobster” (Greece-Ireland-U.K.-Netherlands-France)
Screenplay: Michel Franco, “Chronic” (Mexico-France)
Other Awards
Palme d’Honneur: Agnes Varda
Camera d’Or: “Land and Shade” (Cesar Augusto Acevedo, Colombia)
Short Films Palme d’Or: “Waves ’98” (Ely Dagher)
Ecumenical Jury Prize: “My Mother” (Nanni Moretti)
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Prize: “Rams” (Grimur Hakonarson, Iceland-Denmark)
Jury prize: “The High Sun” (Dalibor Matanic, Croatia-Slovenia-Serbia)
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, “Journey to the Shore” (Japan-France)
Un Certain Talent Prize: Corneliu Porumboiu, “The Treasure” (Romania)
Special Prize for Promising Futures (tie): “Nahid” (Ida Panahandeh, Iran) and “Masaan” (Neeraj Ghaywan, France-India)
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: “The Embrace of the Serpent” (Ciro Guerra, Colombia)
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “My Golden Days” (Arnaud Desplechin, France)
Europa Cinemas Label: “Mustang” (Deniz Gamze Erguven, France-Turkey-Germany)
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “Paulina” (Santiago Mitre, Argentina-Brazil-France)
Visionary Prize: “Land and Shade”
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Land and Shade”
FIPRESCI
Competition: “Son of Saul” (Laszlo Nemes, Hungary)
Un Certain Regard: “Masaan”
Critics’ Week: “Paulina”
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