Cannes Winners, 2019

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By all accounts a run-of-the-mill year for the festival, with a few warmly greeted films but a general sense that nothing blew the roof off the Théâtre Lumière. The winner and best received of the competition films (and my own most anticipated) is Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, about which I’m reading as little as possible; close behind it, tho not in competition, is Robert Eggers’ FIPRESCI-winning offering over at the Fortnight slate, The Lighthouse, which features two great actors going mad together and at each other (sign me up!).

Also very high on my personal list: Céline Sciamma’s first film since the excellent Girlhood, the critically-loved Portrait of a Lady on Fire (also I somehow didn’t know Sciamma wrote the screenplay for My Life as a Courgette?), as well as Mendonça & Dornelles’ Bacurau, which has the most irresistible hook of any of these films. Special shout-out to Mati Diop, whose Atlantiques is the first film by a black woman ever admitted into the main competition slate, taking home the second-biggest prize of the festival, and it sounds quite good! Speaking of kickass women, cinematographer Claire Mathon received a special award from the Vulcan Award jury for having done double-duty as principle photographer on two prizewinning competition films, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Atlantiques.

Judging from other reactions: Terrence Malick is, apparently, back. Quentin Tarantino is also, apparently, back. Almodóvar and Loach never quite left. Meanwhile, the shockingly consistent Dardennes shockingly delivered a critical un-favorite, despite their unexpected win for direction.

Making news for all the wrong reasons? Kechiche. As if the universal critical pans of his new installment of Mektoub weren’t enough, Midi Libre, a French newspaper reporting in Cannes, had this to say about the behind-the-scenes drama: “The director absolutely wanted to get an unsimulated sex scene, which the actors were not inclined to do. But through his insistence and the passage of time, along with the amount of alcohol regularly consumed on set, he managed to get what he wanted.” Yikes. I’ve already had to sorta compartmentalize how much I love some 90% of Blue is the Warmest Color after both actresses talked about feeling coerced into *those* scenes. This is somehow even worse? Will he finally not be invited back?

Anyway, the awards:

MAIN COMPETITION

  • Palme d’Or: Parasite (Bong)
  • Grand Prix: Atlantiques (Diop)
  • Jury Prize (tie): Les Misérables (Ly) and Bacurau (Mendonça & Dornelles)
  • Director: the Dardennes, Young Ahmed
  • Actor: Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
  • Actress: Emily Beecham, Little Joe
  • Screenplay: Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • *Special Citation: Elia Suleiman, It Must Be Heaven
  • Short Film Palme: “The Distance Between Us and the Sky” (Kekatos)
  • *Short Film Citation: “Monster God” (San)

UN CERTAIN REGARD

  • Un Certain Regard: The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao (Aïnouz)
  • Jury Prize: The Fire Will Come (Laxe)
  • Director: Kantemir Balagov, Beanpole
  • Actor: Chiara Mastroianni, On a Magical Night
  • Coup de coeur (tie): The Climb (Covino) and A Brother’s Love (Chokri)
  • Special Jury Prize: Liberté (Serra)
  • Special Jury Mention: Joan of Arc (Dumont)

DIRECTOR’S FORTNIGHT

  • Europa Cinemas Label: Alice and the Mayor (Pariser)
  • SACD Prize: An Easy Girl (Zlotowski)
  • Short Film: “Stay Awake, Be Ready” (Ân)

CRITIC’S WEEK

  • Grand Prix: I Lost My Body (Clapin)
  • SACD Prize: Our Mothers (Díaz)
  • Distribution Award: Vivarium (Finnegan)
  • Rising Star Award: Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, A White, White Day
  • CANAL+ Short Film Award: “Ikki Illa Meint” (Høgenni)
  • Leitz Cine Discovery Short film: “She Runs” (Qiu)

FIPRESCI

  • Competition: It Must Be Heaven (Suleiman)
  • Un Certain Regard: Beanpole (Balagov)
  • Director’s Fortnight/Critic’s Week: The Lighthouse (Eggers)

CAMÉRA D’OR (First Feature): Our Mothers (Díaz)

L’ŒIL D’OR (Documentary) (tie): For Sama (al-Kateab and Watts) and The Cordillera of Dreams (Guzmán)

ECUMENICAL JURY: A Hidden Life (Malick)

QUEER PALM

  • Feature: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Sciamma)
  • Short: “The Distance Between Us and the Sky” (Kekatos)

FRANÇOIS CHALET PRIZE: A Hidden Life (Malick)

PALM DOG

  • Palm Dog: Brandy, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
  • Grand Prix (tie): Little Joe (Hausner) and Aasha and the Street Dogs (Du Chau)

What looks interesting to you?