Cannes Winners 2019
Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 10:55AM With the 72nd Cannes Film Festival wrapped up in the beautiful south of France, it's time to see what the jury selected. Their winners were as such...
PALME D'OR
Bong Joon-ho receiving his Palme from Catherine Deneuve
PARASITE (Bong Joon-Ho, South Korea)
Bong Joon-Ho already has major fans all over the world given the success of his Korean pictures like Memories of a Murder, The Host, and his internationally minded films Okja and Snowpiercer. Our favourite by him is definitely the mesmerizing Mother (2009). Can't wait to see this one! More on Parasite...
GRAND PRIX
ATLANTIQUE (Mati Diop, France/Senegal)
Diop, is as we've noted, the first black female director ever selected for the Cannes competition and her film walks away with the Grand Prix. That's quite a debut film experience... More on that film here.
BEST DIRECTOR
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardeen, THE YOUNG AHMED (Belgium) More on that film. The Belgian brothers never leave Cannes without a prize, even if critics consider the film in question a minor work.
JURY PRIZE (TIE)
Often viewed as "third place" but generally a film that is passionately loved by some part of the jury but not a consensus pick.
Ladj Ly receiving his jury prize for LES MISERABLES
LES MISERABLES (Ladj Ly, France). More on that film.
BACURAU (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil). More on that film.
BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas, PAIN & GLORY (Spain). More on that film.
BEST ACTRESS
Emily Beecham, LITTLE JOE (UK). More on that film.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Céline Sciamma, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (France). More on that film here, which many suspected would win the Palme but it had to settle for Screenplay. We had the pleasure of interviewing Sciamma a few yearsback when My Life as a Zucchini, which she wrote, was up for an Oscar.
SPECIAL MENTION
Elia Suleiman, IT MUST BE HEAVEN
CAMERA D'OR
This prize is decided amongst first films playing in either the Main Competition, Un Certain Regard, or in this case the winner is from Critics Week.
NUESTRAS MADRES (César Díaz, Guatemela)
This film concerns a trial around the civil war and a young anthropologist in search of people who've gone missing, including his own father.
SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
Palme d'Or: THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND THE SKY (Vasilis Kekatos, Greece)
Two strangers meet at an old gas station. (This film is now qualified to compete for an Oscar nomination for Live Action Short Film.)
Special Distinction by the Jury: MONSTRUO DIOS (Agustina San Martín, Argentina)
This translates to "Monster God" and the official synopsis is "God is now a power plant. On a misty night cows escape, a child is chosen, and a girl tries to find freedom.
COMMISSION SUPÉRIEURE TECHNIQUE
CST Artist Technician Prize: Flora Volpeliere, editing, and Julien Poupard as set and lighting designer for LES MISERABLES
Special Jury Mention: Claire Mathon, Cinematography for PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
and... Lee Ha-Jun's Art Direction for PARASITE
CINEFONDATION AND UN CERTAIN REGARD WINNERS - PREVIOUSLY COVERED
Reader Comments (12)
I can’t wait to watch Parasite. Mother was soooo good.
Almodóvar's film is called "Pain and Glory".
I'm happy Atlantique got picked up, by Netflix, and even if it doesn't get a theatrical release at least I know I'll be able to see it.
Parasite, Pain & Glory, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire are the others I'm most excited to see. All and all it seems like it was a strong year.
I'm bummed that Malick nor Tarantino didn't win any big prizes but I am happy for Bong Joon-Ho while I'm also glad that there have been some great films from women that at least are getting some accolades as I've heard great things about Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Atlantique.
I really think they should consider creating a worst film prize which should be a combination of things. A five-pound bag carrying 10 pounds of shit, a kick in the ass from filmmakers, actors, and many others, and a five-year ban from the Cannes Film Festival.
Atlantics got picked up by Netflix, so this will be the last anyone ever heard about it.
Bummer, I was looking forward to it.
Disappointed Netflix got ATLANTIQUE.
I basically want to see every single movie in competition. Was rooting hard for Sciamma and Hanel.
Still not 100% on board with the Banderas love, but after reading all the comments online I see that the love is there and it might be time for a career nomination. God knows he's super charming in person and he'll work the circuit like a pro.
I actually think Netflix having Atlantique may be a good thing. It might actually come out this year that way, which could help it get seen and get an Oscar nomination. Let’s be real- if it had been picked up by a standard distributor, it would have been slotted for a February 2020 release and even then would have only gotten released had it gotten a nomination.
For what it’s worth, I HATED Young Ahmed. I found it horribly simplistic and borderline offensive.
The level of attention Netflix could bring Mati Diop and ATLANTIQUE is considerable. For a black female director, they're a safe bet: Ask Ava DuVernay and Dee Rees.
Or it means people will actually be able to *see* ANTLANTIQUE rather than wait for their individual country to get a distributor willing to purchase the film and release it (probably not within a year, either). I can't imagine Netflix wouldn't campaign the film for foreign language film given it could qualify for Senegal. Naturally I hope to see it on a big screen at a festival, but if I don't get the opportunity then at least it won't vanish into the American VOD system but rather have a streaming home (even if they're bad at boosting these sort of titles - but, hey, DIVINES got a Globe nomination).
I caught Beecham in a small movie, Daphne, last year at the AFI EU Film Festival. Not the best film by any means, but she's good in it and it made me want to see more. So, now, I am super pumped for Little Joe!
South Korea making history is exciting! Do the same thing, Academy!