The 74th Cannes Film Festival ended on Saturday (July 18) in the south of France with the awarding of its top prize, the Palme d'Or. The event was much anticipated as it took place two months later than usual after being cancelled last year due to the global pandemic situation.
This year's Cannes Film Festival witnessed Italian director Marco Bellochio receiving an Honorary Palme d'Or for his extraordinary filmmaking career with a standing ovation from the masked audience during the closing ceremony. Jodie Foster was also given an Honorary Palme d'Or during the opening ceremony of the festival for her outstanding career. Foster becomes the second female director to win the prize. This year, only four female directors, out of 24 films, were selected for the competition.
'Basic Instinct' fame Sharon Stone presented the Palme d'Or to 'Titane', directed by Julia Ducournau. Ducournau made history by becoming the second woman to win the Palme d'Or in 74 years. In 1993, Jane Campion had won the coveted prize, jointly with Chen Kaige.
'Titane', Ducournau's second feature film, was deemed as one of the most shocking and violent films selected in this year's competition by critics. Many people have even compared the film with David Cronenberg's 'Crash'.
Director Oliver Stone presented the Grand Prix to two films this year, Asghar Farhadi's 'A Hero' and Juho Kuosmanen's 'Compartment n°6'.
Here's the full list of winners of 2021:
Palme d'Or: Julia Ducournau for 'Titane' (France)
Grand Prix: Shared by Ashgar Farhadi for 'A Hero' (Iran) and Juho Kuosmanen for 'Compartment No.6' (Finland)
Best director: Leos Carax 'Annette' (France)
Best actress: Renate Reinsve for 'Worst Person in the World' (Norway)
Best actor: Caleb Landry Jones for 'Nitram' (US)
Best screenplay: Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamasa Oe for 'Drive My Car' (Japan)
Jury prize: Shared by Nadav Lapid for 'Ahed's Knee' (Israel) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul for 'Memoria' (Thailand)
Best first film: Antoneta Kusijanovic for 'Murina' (Croatia)
Best short film: Hong Kong's 'All The Crows In The World' Tang Yi
