French cinema received accolades at the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 24, with a magnificent Palme d'Or for Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident, co-produced by France, and the Best Actress award for Nadia Melliti in Hafsia Herzi's The Little Sister. Numerous other French productions and co-productions also received awards.
Unifrance warmly congratulates Jafar Panahi, his French producer Philippe Martin (Les Films Pelléas), and international sales agent mk2 films on this magnificent Palme d'Or award for It Was Just an Accident, an Iran/France/Luxembourg co-production shot in secrecy. This award places 64-year-old Jafar Panahi in the pantheon of the world's greatest filmmakers, following his Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 for his debut feature, The White Balloon, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (The Circle, 2000), and the Golden Bear at the Berlinale (Taxi Tehran, 2020).
Unifrance is also delighted that Nadia Melliti, a young actress making her debut in The Little Sister, won Best Actress for her forceful and nuanced performance in this poignant tale of initiation. The Little Sister is Hafsia Herzi's third feature, produced by June Films and sold by mk2 films, and comes 18 years after the director's acting debut in front of the camera in The Secret of The Grain by Abdellatif Kechiche, which marked her own cinema baptism. The Little Sister also won the Queer Palm.
Congratulations also to Danish filmmaker Joachim Trier, whose Sentimental Value scooped the Grand Prix and was co-produced in France by MK Productions and Lumen and sold by mk2 films, and to The Secret Agent, which garnered Best Actor for Wagner Moura and Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho. The film was co-produced by MK Productions and also sold by mk2 films, an international sales organization that has in fact lined up four films at the awards (and even five when including the German film Sound of Falling)! Bravo also to CG Cinéma anf Arte France Cinéma for the Special Award given to Resurrection by Bi Gan and to 4 A 4 Productions and Arte France Cinéma for the Jury Prize awarded to Sirât by Oliver Laxe.
It is to be noted that these six award-winning films were co-produced by Arte France Cinéma.
Unifrance is also delighted with the Short Film Palme d'or awarded to I'm Glad You're Dead Now, by (and starring) Tawfeek Barhom, co-produced by French outfit Kidam, as well as all the other awards for French productions and co-productions in the other sections, including The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Diego Céspedes (Un Certain Regard Prize), and Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev (Oeil d'or for Documentary and the French Touch Award announced by the Critics' Week jury), Wild Foxes by Valéry Carnoy (co-produced by Les Films du Poisson and sold by The Party Film Sales) which won two awards at Directors' Fortnight, and A Useful Ghost, by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Grand Prix at Critics' Week co-produced by Haut Les Mains Productions.
The array of genres awarded, and the strong presence of French productions behind the majority of award-winning films, once again proves the vitality and inventiveness of French cinema, open to all cultural singularities.
Finally, Unifrance would like to congratulate and thank all the teams of artists and professionals who have brought to life the many French films presented at this year's Cannes Film Festival, across all selections – writers, directors, actors, producers, distributors, sales agents.... It's thanks to their talent and commitment that our cinema continues to make its inimitable mark on the international scene. Each film, with its unique view of the world, plays an active part in the artistic and cultural dialogue that binds us together and opens us up to films from around the world, with its universal fostering of freedom, respect for others, and fraternity.
French films awarded in the Official Selection
Competition
- Palme d’or: It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi • French co-production: Les Films Pelléas, Pio & Co, Arte France Cinéma / International sales: mk2 films
- Grand Prix: Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier • French co-production: MK Productions, Lumen, Arte France Cinéma / International sales: mk2 films
- Best Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho • French co-production: MK Productions, Arte France Cinéma / International sales: mk2 films
- Best Screenplay: Luc Dardenne & Jean-Pierre Dardenne for The Young Mothers' Home • French co-production: Archipel 35, France 2 Cinema / International sales: Goodfellas
- Jury Prize: Sirât by Oliver Laxe • French co-production: 4 A 4 Productions and Arte France Cinéma
- Special Award: Resurrection by Bi Gan • French co-production: CG Cinéma, Arte France Cinéma / International sales: Les Films du Losange
- Best Actress: Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister by Hafsia Herzi • French producers: June Films, Arte France Cinéma / International sales: mk2 films
- Best Actor: Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Shor Film Palme d'or: I'm Glad You're Dead Now by Tawfeek Barhom • French co-production: Kidam
- Ecumenical Jury Prize: The Young Mothers' Home by Luc Dardenne & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Un Certain Regard
- Un Certain Regard Prize: The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Diego Céspedes • French executive producer: Les Valseurs, French co-production: Arte France Cinéma / International sales: Charades
- Best Director: Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser for Once Upon a Time in Gaza • French executive producer: Les Films du Tambour / International sales: The Party Film Sales
- Best Actress: Cleo Diára for I Only Rest in the Storm by Pedro Pinho • French co-production: Still Moving / International sales: Paradise City Sales
Other awards
- Oeil d'or for Best Documentary: Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev • French executive producer: Triptyque Films
- Queer Palm: The Little Sister by Hafsia Herzi
- FIPRESCI Prize: The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Palme Dog: Pipa in Sirât by Oliver Laxe
French films awarded at Directors' Fortnight
- Label Europa Cinéma: Wild Foxes by Valéry Carnoy • French co-production: Les Films du Poisson / International sales: The Party Film Sales
- Coup de coeur SACD: Wild Foxes by Valéry Carnoy
French films awarded at Critics' Week
- Grand Prix: A Useful Ghost by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke • French co-production: Haut Les Mains Productions
- SACD Prize: Victor Alonso Berbel, Guillermo Galoe for Sleepless City by Guillermo Galoe • French co-production: Les Valseurs, Tournellovision
- Fondation GAN Distribution Award: Le Pacte for Left-Handed Girl by Shih-Ching Tsou • French co-production and international sales: Le Pacte
- Fondation Louis Roederer Revelation Award: Théodore Pellerin for Nino by Pauline Loquès • French executive producer: Blue Monday Productions / International sales: The Party Film Sales
- French Touch Award: Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev
- FIPRESCI Award/Critics' Week: Dandelion's Odyssey by Momoko Seto
- Leitz Cine Discovery Award: L'mina by Randa Maroufi • French executive producer: Shatamata Production
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