Less than a year after Julia Ducournau made history as the second woman director to take home Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or — and following weeks of its usual foolishness — several female filmmakers cleaned up at the prestigious fest’s awards ceremony. Seasoned vet Claire Denis and first-time helmer Riley Keough were among the women honored on Saturday, May 28, a press release confirmed.
Main Competition awardees included Denis, whose romantic political thriller “Stars at Noon” tied with Lukas Dhont’s “Close” for the Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen’s decades-spanning tale of friendship, “The Eight Mountains,” tied with Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO” for the Jury Prize. Zar Amir Ebrahimi won the Best Actress prize for portraying a journalist investigating the murders of several sex workers in “Holy Spider.”
The Un Certain Regard section awarded its top prize to Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka’s “The Worst Ones” (“Les Pires”). In an interview with us, the directors described the film-about-filmmaking as “the story of an encounter…That of two worlds that are almost opposites. The world of cinema, embodied by a film crew from Paris, and the world of children from an underprivileged neighborhood of Boulogne-sur-Mer. A rather elitist, idealistic universe of creation, faced with a less polished popular universe, more authentic too, in a sense.”
Also among the Un Certain Regard winners were Maha Haj, who received the Best Screenplay award for “Mediterranean Fever,” which centers on neighbors who become partners in crime and eventually friends; Lola Quivoron, who took home the “Coup de cœur” Prize for “Rodeo,” a portrait of a young women navigating the male-dominated world of dirt bike riding; and Vicky Krieps, who tied with “Harka’s” Adam Bessa for Best Performance for her turn as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage.”
The Caméra d’or, the honor presented to the best first feature film screening in Cannes’ Official Selection or its sidebars, went to Keough and Gina Gammell’s “War Pony,” a drama depicting the intersecting stories of two young Oglala Lakota men coming of age on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Chie Hayakawa’s “Plan 75,” a dystopian story exploring the social marginalization of the elderly, euthanasia, and population control, received a Special Mention by the Caméra d’or jury.
The Higher Technical Commission (CST) honored Marion Burger, the head set designer for Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son” (“Un Petit Frère”), with the CST Young Film Technician Award.
Head over to Cannes’ website to check out the full list of winners.
