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Palme d'Or for L'Enfant
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday with their gritty urban drama L'Enfant, their second "Palme d'Or".
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday with their gritty urban drama L'Enfant.
It was the second time the duo have won the coveted "Palme d'Or" and comes six years after their success with Rosetta.
At a glittering award ceremony in the exclusive French Riviera resort, the brothers dedicated the prize to French journalist Florence Aubenas and her driver Hussein Hanun al-Saadi, who were kidnapped in Iraq in January.
L'Enfant (The Child) is a moving tale of a young couple living on the breadline in an unnamed and soulless city.
The central character Bruno, played by Jeremie Renier, sells his newborn son to make money but soon regrets his decision and tries to get the baby back.
The movie uses hand-held cameras to follow his increasingly desperate scrapes with the law, creating the impression of a documentary.
Critics praised the film, and it was among the frontrunners to take the Golden Palm award.
The outright favourite had been Cache (Hidden), Austrian Michael Haneke's disturbing story of coming to terms with the past, both personal and national, which shocked audiences with a particularly gory scene. He won the best director category.
Another well-received entrant, Broken Flowers, by American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and starring Bill Murray and Sharon Stone, picked up the runners-up prize the Grand Prix.
EXTRAVAGNZA ENDS
The awards bring to an end a hectic 11 days of deal making, party going, star gazing and movie watching in Cannes.
Hollywood star Tommy Lee Jones, in Cannes with his feature directorial debut The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, won the best actor category, and best actress went to Israel's Hanna Laslo in Free Zone, which also starred Natalie Portman.
"I want to share this prize with my Mum, who is a Holocaust survivor," she told the packed Grand Theatre Lumiere, where Hollywood stars including Oscar winners Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, and Spain's Penelope Cruz looked on.
"Also to the victims on the Arab and Palestinian side," she added, referring to the Middle East conflict that provides the backdrop to Israeli director Amos Gitai's Free Zone. "It's time we sit and try to solve the problem."
Other winners included Shanghai Dreams, a Chinese film that picked up the jury award to coincide with the country's cinema centenary this year.
"I want to thank my parents," said director Wang Xiaoshuai. "When I was little I hated them. Now I'm really thankful for what they did."
"Three Burials", which is set along the rugged U.S.-Mexican border, won best screenplay.
"I want to share it with all the Mexicans, especially the Mexicans who try to cross the border in search of a decent living," said writer Guillermo Arriaga.
