The 2019 Cannes Film Festival, has finally been brought to a close. With its dramatic red carpet ensembles and highly recognized A-list stars attending photo calls for their premiered films, the festival’s closing ceremony stuck to its primary purpose of awarding the very best when it comes to film and performances.
This year at the film festival, about 20 movies were in the line-up for the Palme d’Or award, which of course is the biggest category at Cannes. Despite some famous movie names such as ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ which had a grand expectation from Cannes lovers and its undisputed cast all adding up to a possible win, failed to pick up the top honor by falling out to ‘Parasite’, a dark South Korean comedy film from Bong Joon-ho.
Antonio Banderas and Emily Beecham of ‘Into the Badlands’ fame, were both awarded with the best actor and best actress performance respectively for the movies ‘Pain & Glory’ for the former and ‘Little Joe’ for the latter. The Queer Palm category was won over by Celine Sciamma with the movie ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’. It marks the first time a lady director has won the coveted category since its inception in 2010 at Cannes.
Greek filmmaker, Vasilis Kekatos won the short film Queer Palme with ‘The Distance Between Heaven and Us’, whiles Elia Suleiman was accorded with the Special Mention Jury for the film ‘It must Be Heaven’.
The Jury was headed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who scored the best director prize for ‘Babel’ years back at the festival alongside Elle Fanning (the red carpet best dressed leader, thanks to her Dior French old fashion glam), Maimouna N’Daiye, Kelly Reichdart, Enki Bilal, Alice Rohrwacher, Robin Campilo, Yorgos Lanthimos and Pewel Pawlikowski.
Below is a complete line-up of all winners at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival:
Palme d’Or: “Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho
Grand Prix: “Atlantics,” Mati Diop
Jury Prize (tie): “Les Misérables” (Ladj Ly) and “Bacurau” (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles)
Best Actress: Emily Beecham, “Little Joe”
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, “Pain & Glory”
Best Director: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, “The Young Ahmed”
Best Screenplay: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Céline Sciamma
Special Mention of the Jury: “It Must Be Heaven,” Elia Suleiman
Camera d’Or: “Our Mothers,” César Díaz
Short Film Palme d’Or: “The Distance Between Us And The Sky,” Vasilis Kekatos
Special Mention of the Jury: “Monstruo Dios,” Agustina San
Queer Palm (Feature): “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Céline Sciamma
Queer Palm (Short): “The Distance Between Us And The Sky,” Vasilis Kekatos
BY: Larry Adams
