Five films produced or co-produced by France are included among the award-winning titles from the 2016 Official Competition, notably the British Palme d'Or winner I, Daniel Blake by Ken Loach, which was co-produced by the French producers Vincent Maraval and Pascal Caucheteux, from Goodfellas and Why Not Productions.
Unifrance takes this opportunity to extend our congratulations to all of the French actors, directors, producers, and technicians who have created a sensation on the Croisette this year, attracting more attention than any other country. Many of the films presented will soon set out with UniFrance to win over international audiences at festivals and in movie theaters around the world, thanks to our ongoing collaboration with French sales agents and foreign distributors.
A huge bravo to Houda Benyamina and the production company Easy Tiger, who picked up the coveted Camera d'Or for their first feature film, Divines (photo).
It was also a moving farewell to the director Solveig Anspach, who passed away recently, with her film The Together Project winning the SACD Prize.
Congratulations, too, for the hard work put in by the French members of the various festival juries this year:
- Vanessa Paradis and Arnaud Desplechin, members of the jury for the Official Selection
- Céline Sallette, member of the Un Certain Regard jury
- Catherine Corsini, president of the Camera d'Or jury, along with fellow jury members, the film critic Jean-Christophe Berjon, the CEO of TitraFilm, Sophie Frilley, and the cinematographer Jean-Marie Dreujou
- The Franco-Canadian actor Marie-Josée Croze and the director Jean-Marie Larrieu, members of the Short Film jury and the Cinéfondation jury
- The actor and director Valérie Donzelli, president of the Critics' Week jury, along with fellow jury member, the director and screenwriter Alice Winocour.
Award-winning French productions and co-productions in the Official Selection
- Palme d’Or: I, Daniel Blake by Ken Loach (minority co-production)
- Jury Grand Prize: It's Only the End of the World by Xavier Dolan (minority co-production)
- Best Actor: Shahab Hosseini for The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi
- Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi for The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi
- Best Direction (ex-aequo): Personal Shopper by Olivier Assayas and Bacalaureat by Cristian Mungiu (minority co-production)
- Honorary Palme d'Or: Jean-Pierre Léaud
- Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize: The Red Turtle by Michael Dudok De Wit
- Un Certain Regard Jury Prize: Harmonium by Koji Fukada (minority co-production)
- Un Certain Regard, Best Screenplay: Muriel Coulin & Delphine Coulin for The Stopover
- FIPRESCI Prize-Un Certain Regard: Dogsby Bogdan Mirica (minority co-production)
Award-winning French productions and co-productions at Directors' Fortnight
- Camera d'Or: Divines by Houda Benyamina
- Europa Cinema Label: Mercenary by Sacha Wolff
- Art Cinéma Award: Wolf and Sheep by Shahrbanoo Sadat (minority co-production)
- SACD Prize: The Together Project by Solveig Anspach
Award-winning French productions and co-productions at Critics' Week
- Nespresso Grand Prize: Mimosas by Oliver Laxe (minority co-production)
- SACD Prize: Davy Chou and Claire Maugendre for Diamond Island by Davy Chou
- France 4 "Revelation" Award: Album by Mehmet Can Mertoglu (minority co-production)
- FIPRESCI Prize-Critics' Week: Raw by Julia Ducournau
- Canal+ Short Film Prize: Birth of a Leader by Antoine De Bary
And also:
- Queer Palm for a Feature Film: The Lives of Thérèse by Sébastien Lifshitz
- Queer Palm for a Short Film: Gabber Lover by Anna Cazenave Cambet
