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Samson & Delilah Wins Caméra d’Or
Australian feature Samson & Delilah wins the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Warwick Thornton's feature film Samson & Delilah has won the coveted Caméra d'Or, one of the major awards of the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival.
The Caméra d'Or is awarded by an independent jury to the best first feature film screened in the Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or International Critics' Week of Cannes. French actress Isabelle Adjani awarded the prize to what the jury described as "the best love film we've seen for many a year."
Thornton's feature debut was screened in Official Selection in "Un Certain Regard" - a category for films that express a personal vision, with an emphasis on special cultural expression and cinematic innovation.
"Thank you for believing in our first born baby," Thornton said as he accepted the award. "I don't know what to say. Viva Cannes, viva le cinema."
Samson & Delilah attracted attention throughout the festival with standing ovations at its screenings as well as large interest from the media. Screen Australia CEO Ruth Harley reported that the award announcement was greeted with huge applause from the crowd. "It was clear the closing night audience endorsed the jury's decision," she said. "The award is a wonderful achievement and we congratulate all those involved in making this beautiful film."
In Australia, Samson & Delilah continues to achieve high screen averages, taking close to $850,000 in box office since its May 7 theatrical release on only 16 screens. Audiences have grown every week due to word-of-mouth and gushing film reviews, and the film will continue to expand onto more cinema screens over the coming weeks.
"There's no doubt the film is connecting with audiences everywhere," Harley said. "It's a unique love story that passes through tragedy to redemption, told with unsentimental compassion by a director/cinematographer with an extraordinary cinematic eye."
Samson & Delilah tells the love story of two poverty-stricken Aboriginal teenagers in an isolated community in the Central Australian Desert. It features beautiful cinematography and stand-out performances by newcomers Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson on their journey of survival. It made its world premiere in February at the Adelaide Film Festival.
Samson & Delilah is the first feature film funded through Screen Australia's Indigenous department, which supported Warwick Thornton's first short, Payback, in 1996 and has since supported his internationally acclaimed short films Nana and Green Bush. Previously, Thornton had worked as a cinematographer on such standout Australian films as Radiance and My Mother India.
Previous winners of the Camera d'Or since its creation in 1978 include Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise); Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!); Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know) and Steve McQueen (Hunger). The award last went to an Australian in 1996 when Shirley Barrett won it for Love Serenade.
Other winners at Cannes included Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, which picked up the top prize, the Palme d'Or, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, which won Best Actor for Christoph Waltz, and Lars Von Trier's Antichrist, which saw leading lady Charlotte Gainsbourg win Best Actress. The Grand Prize went to A Prophet by Jacques Audiard, the Jury Prize went to Fish Tank by Andrea Arnold and Thirst from Park Chan-Wook. Best Director went to Phillipines' Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay, whilst Best Screenplay was won by Feng Mei for Spring Fever. A Special Prize was also bestowed on French legend Alain Rasnais, who at 86 had his first movie in 30 years compete at the festival, the romantic comedy Wild Grasses.