And The Awards Go To...
And now ladies and gents, below are the Cannes Film Festival award winners, as announced over the weekend. These are films to look out for in the coming year at your local theatre or video rental store (whether in the real or virtual world). Of special note is Afro-British filmmaker Steve McQueen winning the festival prize for best first feature, also known as the Camera d'Or, for his apparently impressive debut film titled Hunger, which was picked up for distribution by IFC Films. Also worth mentioning is the Mike Tyson documentary (titled simply Tyson) which also got picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics, winning the "Knockout Prize" in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival:
IN COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: The Class (Dir. Laurent Cantet)
Runner-up (Grand Prix): Gomorra (Dir. Matteo Garrone)
Best Director (Prix de la Mise en Scene): Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys
Best Screenplay (Prix du Scenario): Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Lorna’s Silence
Best First Feature (Camera d’Or): Hunger (Dir. Steve McQueen)
Jury Prize (Prix du Jury): Il Divo (Dir. Paolo Sorrentino)
Best Actor (Prix d’interpretation masculine): Benicio del Toro for Che
Best Actress (Prix d’interpretation feminine): Sandra Corveloni for Linha de Passe
UN CERTAIN REGARD
1st Prize: Tuplan (Dir. Sergey Dvortsevoy)
2nd Prize: Cloud 9 (Dir. Andreas Dresen)
Prize of Hope: Johnny Mad Dog (Dir. Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)
Knockout Prize: Tyson (Dir. James Toback)
Jury Prize: Tokyo Sonata (Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
CINEFONDATION
1st Prize: Anthem (Dir. Elad Keidan)
2nd Prize: Forbach (Dir. Claire Burger)
3rd Prize: Stop (Dir. Jae-Ok Park) and Roadmarkers (Dir. Juho Kuosmanen)
IN COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: The Class (Dir. Laurent Cantet)
Runner-up (Grand Prix): Gomorra (Dir. Matteo Garrone)
Best Director (Prix de la Mise en Scene): Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys
Best Screenplay (Prix du Scenario): Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Lorna’s Silence
Best First Feature (Camera d’Or): Hunger (Dir. Steve McQueen)
Jury Prize (Prix du Jury): Il Divo (Dir. Paolo Sorrentino)
Best Actor (Prix d’interpretation masculine): Benicio del Toro for Che
Best Actress (Prix d’interpretation feminine): Sandra Corveloni for Linha de Passe
UN CERTAIN REGARD
1st Prize: Tuplan (Dir. Sergey Dvortsevoy)
2nd Prize: Cloud 9 (Dir. Andreas Dresen)
Prize of Hope: Johnny Mad Dog (Dir. Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)
Knockout Prize: Tyson (Dir. James Toback)
Jury Prize: Tokyo Sonata (Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
CINEFONDATION
1st Prize: Anthem (Dir. Elad Keidan)
2nd Prize: Forbach (Dir. Claire Burger)
3rd Prize: Stop (Dir. Jae-Ok Park) and Roadmarkers (Dir. Juho Kuosmanen)
Crazy how in the all the media coverage of Cannes this year 'The Class' never got mentioned even once (not the I saw/read/heard). Talk about rank outsider!
Kudos to M. Cantet! Double kudso for 'The Class' being the first French film to win the Palme d'Or in over 20 years!!
Those bloody Americans stole much of the media spotlight - Indiana Jones, Spielberg, Soderbergh, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Charlier Kaufman... you'd have thought it was an American film festival :o)
Yeah... Pesky yanks!
Not many 'must sees' this year though. Having said that, I'm looking forward to seeing 'Synectoche: NY' when it comes this way - if only because it's Charlie Kaufman and I've liked most of the stuff he's written so I figure his directorial debut can't be too far off the mark.