“Anora” tops Cannes Film Festival winners list

Valerie Hache/AFP via Getty Images

Cannes juries often try to make political statements when choosing the winners of the world’s most famous film festival. Not this year. At least. Might be have.

I would have thought that director Mohammad Rasoulof would win the Palme d’Or for his moving film. Sacred fig seeds. The film deals with the repressive regime in Iran and the crisis in one family, as the daughters rise up in protest against their father’s wishes, a judge who issues a death sentence to anyone who speaks out.

What’s even more impressive is the story behind how Rasoulof himself made the film in secret and then made a daring escape from his home country after being sentenced to eight years in prison.

He headed to Cannes, where his film was given an understandably rapturous reception at a screening on the festival’s final day yesterday. Unfortunately, the Greta Gerwig-led jury only awarded the film a “special” jury prize and none of the major awards. And while it’s true that the film gave Rasoulof a global platform that was much needed in today’s flaming environment in his country and elsewhere, a Palme d’Or for a film whose leading actors still can’t even leave the country would have been a big statement.

This special award was the closest thing to a political prize the jury has ever won, despite films they completely ignored, including a film about the origins of Donald Trump. apprentice(Trump and his lawyers have filed a cease and desist order against it; Paul Schrader’s Ah, Canada, It deals in part with resistance to an unjust war. Ruminov-Ballad, A film about a controversial Russian activist, starring Ben Whishaw as a sensational star, and Francis Ford Coppola’s controversial Megalopolis, Films in which the legendary director expressed dire concerns about the state of the world were also completely excluded.

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez The Prisoner of Azkaban, which just came out on Netflix, won two awards: Best Actress, shared by four actresses, including transgender actress Carla Sofia Gascón, and the Jury Prize (third place) for Audiard herself, a rare case of winning two awards (they have been instructed to distribute the awards). The film is a powerful sympathy for the right to live as you are, i.e. to change your gender, and the far right will no doubt take issue with this fascinating and wonderful film.

But the top prize, the Palme d’Or, went to a raucous and very funny comedy. Anora, Directed by Sean Baker, it blew the roof off the Grand Lumiere. another NEON, which wins almost every year, won the Palme d’Or (and Sacred fig seeds. This is a hilarious and entertaining film with great performances from the phenomenal Mikey Madison in the lead role, as well as talented actors Mark Eidelshtein, Yura Borisov and Karen Karagulian.

This award was given to Triangle of Sadness, And the latter film was nominated for three major awards, including Best Picture, and is as outrageous as this one, so it’s likely to win an Oscar (more on this year’s connection between the Oscars and Cannes in another column), but the most “political” thing about this film is Baker’s appeal for better conditions for sex workers.

The Grand Prix (second place) was won by India, which participated in the competition for the first time in 30 years. Everything we imagine is light Directed by Payal Kapadia, it tells the story of women living their everyday lives in the city of Mumbai. It’s moody and slow-paced, but its beauty is hard to resist. It speaks about humanity and about people living their everyday lives.

Acting awards, including four “Sisterly Harmony” awards, By Emilia Perez Zoe Saldanan, Carla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz all deliver fine performances in this Spanish-language film from a French director that’s a good compromise, about a cartel leader who decides to change his life. and Change his gender and find another way.

As for Best Actor, I have to say that Jesse Plemons is always great. But the movie he won for, Yorgos Lathimos’ Kinds of kindness, It had its flaws and received mixed reviews at best. What a shame. Apprentice Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn; Limonov’s Ben Whishaw was ignored here, but perhaps that’s because their victory would send a political message, at least I think. They deserved to win.

The best original screenplay award went to French director Coralie Forget for her wild English-language body horror comedy. material, This is a great example of a satire that combines well-written, well-directed and well-acted acting, and Demi Moore deserved her Best Actress award. This movie has a lot to say about teen obsession and body image taken to the extreme. I think it’s a great movie. Ozempic: The MovieIt was wild, and it put Moore on the map again.

Missed it? The Grand Toura Burmese-era fantasy story, somehow ended up with Miguel Gomes winning Best Director. I was a bit surprised to see him win here, as the overall reviews were not that great, but I don’t know what the judges think.

Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who didn’t win. I saw over 30 films at Cannes and I have to say it was another very great festival this year. It remains to be seen whether these films will be received in the same way as last year’s films, where three of the official selections were nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture (and several won), and that remains to be seen. It’s going to be tough, but I’ll talk more about this in my upcoming Oscar/Cannes Film Festival roundup.