by Dov Kornits
The Square, the story of a modern museum curator (Danish actor Claes Bang) whose world crumbles around him after he is mugged was the surprise winner at Cannes. The film also stars Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West.
The jury, comprised of Will Smith, Fan Bingbing, Paolo Sorrentino, Maren Ade, Jessica Chastain and Pedro Almodovar.
Other award winners included French film Montparnasse-Bienvenüe by Léonor Serraille, which took home the Camera d’Or (first film) prize, Best Screenplay was shared between Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer (co-written with Efthymis Filippou) and Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here.
Best Actress was taken out by Diane Kruger for Fatih Akin’s In The Face whilst Best Actor went to Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here.
Best Director was taken home by Sofia Coppola for The Beguiled, only the second woman ever to win the award.
Robin Campillo’s French AIDS-themed drama 120 Beats per Minute won the Grand Priz, whilst Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Loveless took out the Jury Prize. The latter was the hot tip to pick up the top gong, but it was not to be.
A special prize – ’70th Anniversary Prize’ – was given to Australia’s own Nicole Kidman, who was unfortunately not able to attend as she was in Nashville at the time, but sent her regards.
