Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the Palme d’Or at the 71st Cannes Film Fest for his film Shoplifters, a portrait of a self-made family scraping by at the bottom of Japanese society whose secret ultimately jeopardizes their ability to stay together.
American director Spike Lee won the Grand Prix for his blaxploitation-styled anti-racism satire BlacKkKlansman, one of just two American films in the official competition . Accepting the prize “on behalf of the People’s Republic of Brooklyn, New York,” Lee quipped, “This is the year of living dangerously,” appropriating the title of Peter Weir’s 1982 film to describe what he considers a precarious moment in American politics.
Best actor honors went to “Dogman” actor Marcello Fonte, who plays a small-town dog washer bullied by a local thug, who accepted the prize from Oscar-winning director Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful).
Ayka lead Samal Yeslyamova won the best actress kudo.
Cate Blanchett announced a Special Palme d’Or to Jean-Luc Godard, whom she described as “a cinematic artist who is continually striving to define and re-define what cinema can be.” Because the director does not attend the festival, the award was accepted by “The Image Book” producers Fabrice Aragno and Mitra Farahani, who quoted one of the film’s final lines, “We are never sad enought for the world to be better.”
Best director honors went to “Ida” helmer Pawel Pawlikowski for Cold War, a black-and-white relationship drama set against the backdrop of the Iron Curtain.
Screenplay: Tie
The best screenplay prize was shared by Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher for “Happy as Lazzaro” and Iranian collaborators Jafar Panahi and Nader Saeivar for their film “3 Faces.”
Before the first award was announced, actress Asia Argento dropped a bombshell, announcing clearly and firmly to the 3,000-plus people assembled in the Grand Palais Lumière, “I have a few words to say: In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old. This festival was his hunting ground. I want to make a prediction: Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here again. He will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up his crimes.
Even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who must still be held accountable for behavior that does not belong in this industry. … You know who you are, and most importantly, we know who you are, and we’re not going to allow you to get away with it anymore.”
Distinguished Jury
The Camera d’Or, awarded by a jury overseen by French-Swiss director Ursula Meier to the best first film in the festival, went to Lukas Dhont’s “Girl,” the portrait of a 15-year-old who dreams of being a ballerina.
The day before, lead actor Victor Polster earned the non-gendered prize for best performance in Un Certain Regard, while the film won the Queer Palm for best LGBT film in the festival overall.
COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda
Grand Prix: “BlacKkKlnsman,” Spike Lee
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Actor: Marcello Fonte, ”Dogman”
Actress: Samal Yeslyamova, “Ayka”
Jury Prize: Nadine Labaki, “Capernaum”
Screenplay — TIE:
Alice Rohrwacher, “Happy as Lazzaro” AND
Jafar Panahi, Nader Saeivar, “3 Faces”
Special Palme d’Or: Jean-Luc Godard
OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: “Girl,” Lukas Dhont
Short Films Palme d’Or: “All These Creatures,” Charles Williams
Short Films Special Mention: “On the Border,” Shujun Wei
Golden Eye Documentary Prize: TBA
Ecumenical Jury Prize: “Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki
Ecumenical Jury Special Mention: “BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee
Queer Palm: “Girl,” Lukas Dhont
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Award: Ali Abbasi, “Border”
Best Director: Sergei Loznitsa, “Donbass”
Best Performance: Victor Polster, “Girl”
Best Screenplay: Meryem Benm’Barek, “Sofia”
Special Jury Prize: João Salaviza & Renée Nader Messora, “The Dead and the Others”
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: “Climax” (Gaspar Noé)
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “The Trouble With You” (Pierre Salvadori)
Europa Cinemas Label: “Lucia’s Grace (Gianni Zanasi)
Illy Short Film Award: “Skip Day” (Patrick Bresnan, Ivete Lucas)
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “Diamantino” (Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt)
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Woman at War” (Benedikt Erlingsson)
GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: “Sir”
Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Felix Maritaud, “Sauvage.”
Short Film: “Hector Malot – The Last Day Of The Year” (Jacqueline Lentzou)
