Cannes’ biggest winners

Belgians Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are among a handful of directors – including Francis Ford Coppola, Emir Kusturica and Shohei Imamura – to have twice won the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. Following Rosetta (1999) and L’enfant (The Child, 2002), it could have been third time lucky this year but The Kid with a Bike received Cannes’ second prize, the Grand Prix.

Danish provocateur Lars von Trier was banned this year following an ill-advised Nazi rant, but he has won the festival’s top three prizes: the Palme d’Or for Dancer in the Dark (2000), the Grand Prix for Breaking the Waves (1996) and the jury prize for Europa back in 1991.

Both directors serve their actors well, too: Émilie Dequenne and Olivier Gourmet have been rewarded for their roles in the Dardennes’ Rosetta and Le fils (The son, 2002), respectively, while Björk (Dancer…), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist, 2009) and Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia, this year) have scooped the best actress award for their roles in von Trier movies. But the festival’s biggest winners came in 1955 when the entire cast of Russian drama Bolshoya Semya (A Big Family) shared the best acting prizes.

Omer Ali
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Cannes in a Van

Yes ladies and gentlemen, Cannes like you’d never imagine. Boasting itself the perfect vehicle for independent film a yellow transit van parks up at the Cannes film festival every year and screen independent films pioneering the spirit of guerilla filmmaking.

A great and much needed break from the glamour of Cannes, the unpretentious van screens films from independent filmmakers for a low cost, crowning one winner with the coveted Van d’Or award.

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Ladies of Cannes

What was going through Kirsten Dunst’s mind as Lars von Trier launched into that controversial rant at the Cannes press conference for his latest film, Melancholia, in which she stars? Whether the Danish director’s misjudged provocation undermines public response to the movie remains to be seen but it did Dunst no immediate harm: Robert de Niro’s jury awarded her the festival’s best actress prize.

Von Trier serves his female leads well at Cannes: Charlotte Gainsbourg and Björk have both been recognised at the festival for performances in his films – Antichrist (in 2009) and Dancer in the Dark (2000), respectively. Dunst was the latest American to win Cannes’ best actress award, joining a distinguished lineage including Katharine Hepburn (Long Day’s Journey into Night, 1962), Meryl Streep (A Cry in the Dark, 1989) and, erm, Cher (Mask, 1985).

The French, of course, are no slouches in this category (Jeanne Moreau, Juliette Binoche, Isabelles Huppert and Adjani have all won…) nor do the Brits do badly, notably sustaining a great run in the 1980s with Helen Mirren, Brenda Blethyn and Kathy Burke. However, this year’s biggest disappointment this side of the Channel was surely the lack of official recognition for Lynne Ramsay’s Lionel Shriver adaptation We Need to Talk about Kevin, starring the magnetic Tilda Swinton.

Omer Ali
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Cannes Film Festival 2011: The Red Carpet

As lights began to fade in screening rooms, nearby red carpets sizzled in the seductive Southern France sunlight. Films are hotly anticipated and scrutinized at Cannes, but so too, is fashion. There may not be a Palme d’Or for gowns or tuxedos, but the sartorial supremacy of Cannes Film Festival is as unwavering as the prestige with which films selected are bestowed. Perhaps the symbiotic relationship between Hollywood and Europe is no better reflected than at Cannes; noteworthy films and glamorous goddesses share the spotlight (and enjoy each other’s company).

In 2011, old-school Hollywood made a bold entrance, with floor-sweeping, figure-hugging, long-sleeved and embroidered couture from Chanel, Gucci, Versace et al. Yet, stars striving for our style ‘award’ remembered that Cannes is not Hollywood, it’s the Riviera. Indulgent glamour? Yes. But also, incredibly chic. Top marks for Kirsten Dunst, whose red carpet gowns (even ‘conventional’ choices) were cool, fashion-forward and edgy. Fitting of Cannes’ love affair with both fashion and film, Dunst was named Best Actress on Sunday.

Kate Ingram
Visit City Girls Diaries blog

Un certain regard Double Awards

The Cannes Film Festival has announced the winners of this year’s ‘Un Certain Regard’ category.

Sharing the top prize is South Korean director Kim Ki Duk for his documentary Arirang, and German director Andreas Dresen for Halt Auf Freier Strecke.

Awarded the Special Jury Prize was Andrew Zvyagintstev’s Russian drama Elena, while the Directing Prize was awarded to Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof for Be Omid E Didar (Au Revoir).

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Cannes film festival 2011 round-up

Antisemitism, paedophilia, sex and talking beavers: Cannes film festival 2011 round-up

By Jason Solomons – The Observer

It’s been a vintage year on the Croisette, with superb films and lashings of controversy.

Resurgent Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein called it “one of the best festivals in the history of Cannes”. Harvey would say that – he nabbed the rights to the best film, in the transplendent form of a silent movie called The Artist.

But in terms of quality, controversy, debate and infinite variety, this has indeed been a vintage Cannes and of all the ones to miss, Lars von Trier picked the wrong one. The Danish director was thrown out of the festival for dim comments made about Hitler at the press conference after his film Melancholia, although the film itself bizarrely remains in with a chance of prizes tonight, with its star Kirsten Dunst having particularly impressed Robert De Niro and his jury, I hear.

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The Artist’s Palm Dog…

Did you know that The Artist got the The Palm… Dog ?

According to AFP, journalist Kate Muir announced the award during the ceremony on the Mediterranean beach front.
She added that the gong was given to the star of the in-competition black and white French silent film “for one of the best performances ever in the history of the award… a lovely terrier”.

In Uggy’s absence, the prize was picked up by his pen-pal, a Jack Russell bitch Apple.

The ‘Special Jury Prize’ was given to “fifth generation actor” Laika, who appeared in Le Havre, another movie in competition at this year’s Cannes.

By Mayer Nissim, Senior Entertainment Reporter

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