The Cannes Film Festival, an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all ar
The Cannes Film Festival, an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around the world which began 12 days ago finally came to an end on Sunday May 28th 2017. This year’s festival which marked its 70th anniversary has come up with the winners as chosen by a star-studded nine member jury led by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar including Jessica Chastain and Will Smith.
Palme d’Or prize: ‘The Square’
A Swedish film ‘The Square’, a dark satire of the contemporary art world, was the surprise winner of the top Palme d’Or prize at the world’s biggest film festival. The film is a savagely funny takedown of political correctness and the things we choose to hang in art galleries.
Grand Prix prize: ‘120 Beats Per Minute’
‘120 Beats Per Minute’, a moving drama set in Paris at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s, scooped second prize for its wrenching portrayal of a romance between two activists in the advocacy group, ACT UP. It was directed by Robin Campillo.
Jury prize: ‘Loveless’
‘Loveless’, a bleak tale of a middle-class couple in Moscow looking to offload their child as they go through a bitter divorce, came in third. The film by Kremlin critic Andrei Zvyagintsev offers a stinging critique of modern Russian society, depicting a country obsessed with consumerism and its smart phones.
Best actor: Joaquin Phoenix
Triple Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix won best actor for playing a traumatised hitman hired by a New York state senator to rescue his daughter from a paedophile ring in Lynne Ramsay’s ultra-violent ‘You Were Never Really Here.
Best actress: Diane Kruger
Originally from Germany, the former model swapped her usually glamorous image to play a mother who vows revenge after her ethnic Kurdish husband and son are killed in a neo-Nazi attack.
Best director: Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola picked up best director for her remake of the American Civil War thriller ‘The Beguiled’, starring Colin Farrell as a soldier who bewitches several Southern women including Nicole Kidman. She is the daughter of ‘Apocalypse Now’ director, Francis Ford Coppola.
Best screenplay: Lynne Ramsay and Yorgos Lanthimos
The nine-member jury opted to split the screenplay prize in two, dividing it between Scottish director, Lynne Ramsay for ‘You Were Never Really Here’ and Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos for ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’, a chilling suburban thriller starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman.
Special prize: ‘Nicole Kidman’
Nicole Kidman was the undisputed queen of this year’s Cannes with four projects showing. To mark its 70th birthday, the festival rewarded her with a special prize.
