Bringing a turbulent world together through cinema, the 78th Cannes Film Festival closed with its most political moment, as Iranian director Jafar Panahi accepted the Palme d’Or for “It Was Just an Accident,” a film directly inspired by his time in prison.
Filled with equal helpings of absurdist humor and ire, Panahi’s film follows five characters who think they’ve identified the prosecutor who tortured them during their own arrests — but as they were all blindfolded in jail, none can be entirely certain their captive is the same man.
Since Panahi’s first arrest and conviction for “propaganda against the regime” in 2010, the director has continued to make films, even when expressly forbidden from doing so. In 2011, he sent a flash drive to Cannes with his movie, “This Is Not a Film,” and has remained a vocal defender of other directors whose work the government seeks to suppress. The Palme represents a major vindication for his persistence.
Panahi thanked his family for its support (especially in times when he wasn’t there with them), as well as the team that made such a risky project possible. ”I think it’s the moment to ask everyone, all the Iranians with opinions different from others, in Iran and throughout the world…” he began. ”I’d like to ask them one thing: Put all the problems and differences aside. The most important thing is surely our country and the freedom of our country.”
The rest of the awards ceremony unfolded more or less as planned on a turbulent last day for the otherwise calm event, which was hit with a power blackout mid-morning — a massive regional outage that disrupted screenings and caused general confusion among attendees. Fortunately, the festival had backup generators running, ensuring that the show would go on at the Palais, where jury president Juliette Binoche and eight other film artists took the stage to present their awards.
The year after an American film (“Anora”) won the Palme d’Or, the country was shut out of the awards altogether — though U.S. distributor Neon once again had rights locked up for the evening’s top prize. Meanwhile, from the French side, local producer-distributor Mk2 scooped up six awards.
Neon and Mk2 were co-producers on the Grand Prix winner, awarded to Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s layered family drama “Sentimental Value.” The film follows a difficult filmmaker’s attempt to reconcile things with his estranged daughter by casting her in his most personal film to date — an offer she can’t help but take as the man’s most egotistical gesture yet.
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Accepting the honor, Trier thanked Cannes for fostering a place “where we can identify with each other in contemplation, in empathy,” adding: ”I don’t think art is just something you do for purpose or understanding. We don’t know why we do it. It’s something I watch my small children do. They sing and dance before they can speak. But it’s another language, it could be a language of unification.”
Newcomer Nadia Melliti won best actress honors for “Little Sister,” in which she plays a tough Paris teenager trying to navigate her sexuality in a conservative immigrant community.
“The Secret Agent” took two prizes. Wagner Moura earned best actor, for playing a father who disguises his identity in an attempt to evade assassination during Brazil’s military dictatorship, while Kleber Mendonça Filho was named best director.
In town to support his film “Heads or Tails?” (in which he plays Buffalo Bill), John C. Reilly surprised the audience by singing “La vie en rose” — with apologies for doing so in English. “Luckily, the films presented have provided all the electricity we needed this week,” said Reilly, presenting the best screenplay prize to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for “Young Mothers.” “Somehow, something unexpected always happens whenever I’m in Cannes.”
The jury prize was split between Spanish director Olivier Laxe for “Sirat” and “Sound of Falling” from German helmer Mascha Schilinski, arguably the two most original voices in this year’s competition. Following a caravan of postapocalyptic ravers across the deserts of Morocco, “Sirat” plays like a bleak, arthouse “Mad Max: Fury Road,” with even more shocking explosions. Like “Sentimental Value,” “Sound of Falling” centers on a house, eavesdropping on intimate moments in the lives of seemingly unrelated residents.
Looking for a way to recognize another of the lineup’s most audacious visions, the jury gave a special prize to Chinese director Bi Gan. His sprawling, chimeric anthology project “Resurrection” attempts to encompass a century of cinema, deliriously hopping between genres and filmmaking styles, while tipping its hat to the “Fantasmers” whose dreams shaped the medium.
Alice Rohrwacher presented the Camera d’Or trophy for first feature to ”The President’s Cake” director Hasan Hadi, who accepted the first award ever presented to an Iraqi film in Cannes.
In addition to Binoche, this year’s majority-female jury included Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, American stars Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo, Mexican director Carlos Reygadas and Congolese filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi.
Full list of prizes below.
COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi
Grand Prix: “Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, “The Secret Agent”
Actor: Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”
Actress: Nadia Melliti, “Little Sister”
Jury Prize — TIE: “Sirat,” Olivier Laxe AND “Sound of Falling,” Mascha Schilinski
Special Award (Prix Spécial): “Resurrection,” Bi Gan
Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, “Young Mothers”
OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: ”The President’s Cake,” Hasan Hadi
Camera d’Or Special Mention: “My Fther’s Shadow,” Akinola Davies Jr.
Short Film Palme d’Or: “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now,” Tawfeek Barhom
Short Film Special Mention: “Ali,” Adnan Al Rajeev
Golden Eye Documentary Prize: “Imago,” Déni Oumar Pitsaev
Golden Eye Special Jury Prize: “The Six Billion Dollar Man,” Eugene Jarecki
Queer Palm: “Little Sister,” Hafsia Heerzi
Palme Dog: Panda, “The Love That Remains”
FIPRESCI Award (Competition): “The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonça Filho
FIPRESCI Award (Un Certain Regard): “Urchin,” Harris Dickinson
FIPRESCI Award (Parallel Sections): “Dandelion’s Odyssey,” Momoko Seto
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Award: “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” Diego Céspedes
Jury Prize: “A Poet,” Simón Mesa Soto
Best Director Prize: Tarzan and Arab Nasser, “Once Upon a Time in Gaza”
Performance Awards: Cléo Diara, “I Only Rest in the Storm”; Frank Dillane, “Urchin”
Best Screenplay: Harry Lighton, “Pillion”
Special Mention: “Norah,” Tawfik Alzaidi
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Europa Cinemas Label: “Wild Foxes,” Valéry Carnoy
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Wild Foxes,” Valéry Carnoy
Audience Choice Award: “The President’s Cake,” Hasan Hadi
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “A Useful Ghost,” Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
French Touch Prize: “Imago,” Déni Oumar Pitsaev
GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: Le Pacte, “Left-Handed Girl”
Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Théodore Pellerin, “Nino”
Leitz Cine Discovery Prize (short film): “L’mina,” Randa Maroufi
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: Guillermo Galoe and Victor Alonso-Berbel, “Sleepless City”
Canal+ Short Film Award: “Erogenesis,” Xandra Popescu
IMMERSIVE COMPETITION
“From Dust,” Michel van der Aa
From Variety US