French films featured strongly among winners at the 64th Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony held last night.
Maïwenn's third film Polisse picked up the Jury Prize, after attracting strong attention from French media following its presentation early in the festival.
Jean Dujardin was voted Best Actor for his performance in The Artist by Michel Hazanavicius. In this film, Dujardin plays a Hollywood silent film star in the 1920s whose career fades into obscurity with the arrival of talkies.
The Grand Prix was awarded to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for their film A Kid with a Bike, a French co-production.
The Palme d’Or for a Short Film was presented to Cross by the Ukrainian director Maryna Vroda, which was produced by the French production company Les 3 Lignes.
Drari by Kamal Lazraq was awarded 2nd Prize by the Cinéfondation, whose president this year was Michel Gondry.
The 2011 Ecumenical Jury honored two French co-productions with Special Mentions: Et Maintenant, on va où? (Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki and Le Havre by Aki Kaurismaki, both majority co-productions. Aki Kaurismaki's film was also honored by the FIPRESCI jury.
The Directors' Fortnight awards list also included a French co-production, Les Géants by the Belgian director Bouli Lanners.
