It’s been an exceptional Festival. It was supposed to be, and it’s certainly lived up to its promise. For 12 days, the 74th Festival de Cannes has celebrated our reunion with the cinema as a great international event full of discoveries, encounters, and sharing.
Just as American actress-director Jodie Foster was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or at the Opening Ceremony on 6 July, Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio has received the distinction this evening for his exceptional career. The trophy was presented to him by Paolo Sorrentino.
On the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, the Master of Ceremonies, Doria Tillier, was joined by the Feature Film Jury chaired by Spike Lee and composed of Mati Diop, Mylène Farmer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hausner, Mélanie Laurent, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Tahar Rahim and Song Kang-ho, for the announcement of the 2021 Awards.
FEATURE FILMS
Palme d’or
The award was presented by Sharon Stone and Spike Lee.
Julia DUCOURNAU said: “There is so much beauty and emotion to be found in what cannot be pigeonholed. Thank you to the Jury for calling for more diversity in our film experiences and in our lives. And thank you to the Jury for letting the monsters in.
Grand Prix (ex aequo)
The award was presented by the American director Oliver Stone.
Asghar FARHADI said: “I remember, it was thirty-six years ago. I was thirteen years old and I made my first short film with the resources I had available. Since then, I have been writing and making films, despite the difficulties, despite the pressures. I continue to have the hope of questioning society around me and raising awareness.
Juho KUOSMANEN said: “The last two weeks have seemed so long. This film is the story of a relationship between two people, but all stories involve relationships between people.”
Best Director
Leos CARAX for ANNETTE
The award was presented by Italian actress and director Valeria Golino.
Ron and Russell Mael, the Sparks duo, said: “Eight years ago Ron and I came to Cannes. We met Leos Carax for the first time and thanked him for using one of our songs in his film Holy Motors. He is a great French director, a great filmmaker. We are very touched to have played a role in this project.”
Best Screenplay
HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke & TAKAMASA Oe for DRIVE MY CAR
The award was presented by British director and screenwriter Andrea Arnold.
HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke said: “I am obviously thinking of the author of the short story that inspired this film, Haruki Murakami. I also want to make it clear that I did not write this script alone. TAKAMASA Oe is a full-time screenwriter, but he constantly encourages me to write. I am very grateful to him. It’s a very long film but he always encouraged me to go through with the project. I would like to thank the people who put the script into pictures. If you liked it, it was well-acted and I also want to thank my actors. They contributed greatly to the success of the film.”
Jury Prize (ex aequo)
MEMORIA directed by Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL
HA’BERECH (Ahed’s Knee) directed by Nadav LAPID
Best Performance by an Actress
Renate REINSVE in VERDENS VERSTE MENNESKE (The Worst Person in the World)
directed by Joachim TRIER
Best Performance by an Actor
Caleb LANDRY JONES in NITRAM
directed by Justin KURZEL
SHORT FILMS
Palme d’or
TIAN XIA WU YA (All the Crows in the World) directed by TANG Yi
Special Mention
CÉU DE AGOSTO (August Sky) directed by Jasmin TENUCCI
CAMERA D’OR
MURINA directed by Antoneta ALAMAT KUSIJANOVIĆ unveiled in the frame of LA QUINZAINE DES RÉALISATEURS
HIGHER TECHNICAL COMMISSION(CST)
CST Award for Technical Artistry
Vladislav OPELIANTS (Russia), Chief Director of Photography, PETROV’S FLU by Kirill SEREBRENNIKOV
CST Young Film Technician Award
Armance DURIX, Head Sound Engineer, MI IUBITA, MON AMOUR by Noémie MERLANY
The final Screening of the 74th Festival de Cannes: OSS 117, Alerte rouge en Afrique noire (From Africa with Love), the third part of the adventures of Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath was shown to festival-goers at the end of the Awards Ceremony in the presence of director Nicolas Bedos, actors Jean Dujardin and Pierre Niney and cast and crew.
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