68th Festival de Cannes Awards; Jacques Audiard’s DHEEPAN Wins Palme d’Or

The 12 days of the prestigious 68th Festival de Cannes came to a close on Sunday (May 24, 2015) when the winners were announced during the Awards Ceremony.

The Palme d’Or went to Jacques Audiard’s DHEEPAN. To escape the civil war in Sri Lanka, a former soldier, a young woman and a little girl pose as a family. They end up settling in a housing project outside Paris. They barely know one another, but try to build a life together.

The prize for Best Actress was shared by Rooney Mara for her role in CAROL, by Todd Haynes and Emmanuelle Bercot, for her role in Maïwenn’s MON ROI.

Best Actor went to Vincent Lindon for his role in Stéphane Brizé’s LA LOI DU MARCHE (THE MEASURE OF A MAN).

The Best Director prize was awarded to NIE YINNIANG (THE ASSASSIN) by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. In 9th Century China, a high born female assassin must choose: sacrifice the man she loves or break with the sacred way of the righteous killers.

An honorary Palme d’Or was awarded to Agnès Varda for her entire career.

Watch the press conference HERE.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen were the two Presidents of the Jury of the 68th Festival de Cannes. Other members included Rossy de Palma (Actress – Spain), Sophie Marceau (Actress, Director – France), Sienna Miller (Actress – United Kingdom), Rokia Traoré (Composer, Singer-songwriter – Mali), Guillermo del Toro (Director, Writer, Producer – Mexico), Xavier Dolan (Director, Writer, Producer, Actor – Canada), and Jake Gyllenhaal (Actor – United States).

FEATURE FILMS

Palme d’Or
DHEEPAN Directed by Jacques AUDIARD

Grand Prix
SAUL FIA (SON OF SAUL) Directed by László NEMES

Award for Best Director
HOU Hsiao-Hsien for NIE YINNIANG (THE ASSASSIN)

Award for Best Screenplay
Michel FRANCO for CHRONIC

Award for Best Actress Ex-aequo
Emmanuelle BERCOT, Rooney MARA in MON ROI Directed by MAÏWENN
Rooney MARA, Emmanuelle BERCOT in CAROL Directed by Todd HAYNES

Award for Best Actor
Vincent LINDON, Stéphane BRIZÉ in LA LOI DU MARCHÉ (THE MEASURE OF A MAN) Directed by Stéphane BRIZÉ

Jury Prize
THE LOBSTER Directed by Yorgos LANTHIMOS

Palme d’Or – Short Film
WAVES ’98 Directed by Ely DAGHER

Awards for Un Certain Regard 2015 were handed out on Saturday.

Un Certain Regard 2015 presented in competition 19 films hailing from 21 different countries. Four of the works were first films. The Opening film was An by Naomi Kawase.

With Isabella Rossellini (filmmaker – United States, Italy) as its President, the Jury was comprised of Haifaa al-Mansour (director – Saudi Arabia), Panos H. Koutras (director – Greece), Nadine Labaki (director, actress – Lebanon) and Tahar Rahim (actor – France).

UN CERTAIN REGARD AWARD
HRÚTAR (Béliers / Rams) by Grímur Hákonarson In a remote Icelandic farming valley, two brothers who haven’t spoken in 40 years have to come together in order to save what’s dearest to them – their sheep.

JURY PRIZE
ZVIZDAN (Soleil de plomb / The High Sun) by Dalibor Matanić

BEST DIRECTOR PRIZE
Kiyoshi Kurosawa for KISHIBE NO TABI (Vers l’autre rive / Journey to the Shore)

UN CERTAIN TALENT PRIZE
COMOARA (Le Trésor / Treasure) by Corneliu Porumboiu

PROMISING FUTURE PRIZE
MASAAN by Neeraj Ghaywan

Ex aequo
NAHID by Ida Panahandeh