CANNES – After 12 days of screenings, the Cannes Film Festival has drawn to a close. That means it’s time for Greta Gerwig and her jury to reveal the winners of the competition section of the festival. This year, the nine jury members selected Sean Baker’s “Anora” as the winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or.
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Three of the last four Palme winners, “Parasite,” “The Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. All three of those films were also distributed by NEON, which, you guessed it, also has North American distribution rights to “Anora.”
Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine As Light,” the first Indian film in competition in 30 years, took the Grand Prix, effectively second place.
In a surprise, Best Actress was split among four actors from Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon, and Selena Gomez. Gascon becomes the first trans woman to win an acting award at Cannes. “Emila Perez” also took the Jury Prize, effectively third place in the competition.
Jesse Plemons took Best Actor for playing three roles in Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness.”
Best Director went to Miguel Gomes for “Grand Tour,” which certainly split attendees on the ground (if not critics).
The Screenplay honor went to Coralie Fargeat’s fantastic “The Substance,” which could have won several prizes. After Universal Pictures dropped the film, MUBI picked up North American distribution. It will hit theaters on Sept. 20. A
A Special Award for Best Screenplay went to Mohammad Rasoulof for “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Rasoulof made global headlines after escaping Iran following a politically motivated prison sentence and making it to France to attend “Sacred Fig’s” world premiere.
READ MORE: “Anora” Review: Sean Baker’s Modern Cinderella Arrives With A Russian Twist [Cannes]
Earlier this week, the Un Certain Regard jury awarded the Un Certain Regard Prize to Guan Hu’s “Black Dog.” Boris Lojkine’s “L’Histoire De Souleymane” won the Jury Prize. Best Director was a tie between Roberto Minervini for “The Damned” and Rungano Nyoni for “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.” Abou Sangre won Best Actor for “L’Histoire De Souleymane” and Anasuya Sengupta took Best Actress for “The Shameless.” Louise Courvoisier was recognized with the Youth Award for “Holy Cow” while Tawfik Alzaidi earned a special mention for “Norah.”
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In the festival sidebars, the Queer Palm Jury awarded the Queer Palm to Emanuel Parvu, for “Three Kilometers until the End of the World.” The Director’s Fortnight handed out its inaugural Audience Award to Matthew Rankin’s “Universal Language.” Jonás Trueba’s “The Other Way Around” won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in the Fortnight. The SCAD Award for Best French Film went to Sophie Fillières‘s “This Life of Mine.” The Critic’s Week jury honored Federico Luis‘s “Simon of the Mountain” with its Grand Jury prize.
A complete list of the In Competition winners is as follows:
Palme d’Or: SEAN BAKER for ANORA
Grand Prix: PAYAL KAPADIA for ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
Jury Prize: JACQUES AUDIARD for EMILIA PÉREZ
Best Director: MIGUEL GOMES for GRAND TOUR
Best Actress: ADRIANA PAZ, ZOE SALDAÑA, KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN, SELENA GOMEZ in EMILIA PÉREZ
Best Actor: JESSE PLEMONS for KINDS OF KINDNESS
Best Screenplay: CORALIE FARGEAT for THE SUBSTANCE
Special Award Best Screenplay: MOHAMMAD RASOULOF for THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Caméra d’Or – First Film: ARMAND by HALFDAN ULLMANN TØNDEL
Caméra d’Or: – Special Mention: MONGREL by WEI LIANG CHIANG & YOU QIAO YIN (Director’s Fortnight)
Short Film Palme d’Or: THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT by NEBOJŠA SLIJEPČEVIĆ
Special Mention for Short Film: BAD FOR A MOMENT by DANIEL SOARES
Find complete coverage of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, including previews, reviews, interviews, and more, on The Playlist.