The Cannes Festival Jury has announced its verdict, with a strong global flavor to this year’s awards list. All continents are represented in the 9 prizes awarded to films in the Official Selection.
Included in the awards are two French films, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel, which picked up the Best Direction Awards, and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, which took the Jury Prize.
The Forest of Mogari by Naomi Kawase (a Franco-Japanese co-production) was honored with the Jury Grand Prize, while Silent Light by Carlos Reygadas (a minority Franco-Mexican co-production) snatched the Jury Prize and Paranoid Park, fully financed by the French-based production company Mk2, won Gus Van Sant the festival’s 60th Anniversary Award.
Other award winners include Jellyfish by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen (a majority Franco-Israeli co-production), which received the Camera d’Or, the SACD Prize, and the TV World Prize. XXY by Lucia Puenzo (a minority Franco- Argentinean co-production) picked up the Critics’ Week Grand Prize and the ACID Prize. Elle s’appelle Sabine by Sandrine Bonnaire won the FIPRESCI Award for parallel Festival Sections.
Finally, Le Rêve d’une nuit d’avant (Actress) by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, waltzed off with the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard Section.
