UPDATE!

There’s a series of steps near the Palais which have incribed upon them the past Palme d’Or winners. They going to have to use a smaller font to get the 2010 winner to fit as the Palme was awarded to Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Apichatpong Weerasethaku. The film hadn’t premiered by the time that most people had left mid-week and didn’t have the kind of nudge-nudge buzz from insiders that indicates that it’s a work of quality that has to be sought out. I had seen a trailer for it and must admit was captivated by the excerpted visuals. The Cannes jury, however, led by Tim Burton, chose the Thai production as the best of the fest. Javier Bardem was an early favorite for Best actor for Biutiful, though he had to share it with Elio Germano from La Nostra Vita. Juliette Binoche won Best Actress for Copie Conforme, the new film by Abbas Kiarostami.

The Grand Prix went to Les Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois (it also picked up the Ecumenical Prize on Saturday). Non-Franco eyebrows have to be raised, however, after Mathieu Amalric picked up Best Director for Tournee (“On Tour”), a film derided by most. The strong French showing just doesn’t track with the films they showed.  Here are the winners:

Feature films

Palme d’Or

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat) by Apichatpong Weerasethaku.
Grand Prix
Les Hommes et des Dieux (Of Gods and Men) by Xavier Beauvois

Award for Best Director
Mathieu Amalric for Tournee (On Tour)

Award for Best Screenplay
Lee Chang-dong for Poetry

Award for Best Actress
Juliet Binoche in Copie Conforme (Certified Copy)  directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Award for Best Actor

Javier Bardem in Biutiful directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Elio Germano in La nostra vita (Our Life)  directed by Daniele Luchetti
Jury Prize
Un homme qui crie (A screaming man) directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Short Films
Palme d’Or – Short Film
Chienne d’histoire (Barking Island) directed by Serge Avedikian

Jury Prize – Short Film
Micky Bader(Bathing Mickey) directed by Frida Kempff

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The Palme d’Or isn’t given out until Sunday but awards are starting to come in from Cannes. The Un Certain Regard award, created in 1998, was chaired this year by director Clair Denis and this year’s winner is Hahaha by Hong Sangsoo. The film beat out such competition as the Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams film Blue Valentine and the new film by Jean-Luc Godard. The biggest surprise, however, came from the International Federation of Film Critics who awarded theirFIPRESCI prize to Tournee (“On Tour”) by Mathieu Amalric, a film that opened the first day of Cannes and was largely derided in most quarters as inconsequential fluff.

Un Certain Regard:  Hahaha by Hong Sangsoo

Cinefoundation Awards:
1st Prize: Taulukauppiatt (“The Painting Sellers”) by Juho Kuosmanen
2nd Prize: Coucou-Les-Nuages (“Anywhere Out of the World”) by Vincent Cardona
3rd Prize (tie): Hinkerort Zorasune (“The Fifth Column”) by Vatche Boulghourjian
3rd Prize (tie): Ja Vec Jesam Sve Ono Sto Zelim da Imam (“I Already Own Everything I Want to Have”) by Dane Komljen

The Cinefoundation prize is awarded solely to student filmmakers. The head of the jury this year was director Atom Egoyan.

Cannes Ecumenical Prize:

Les Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois

Special mentions to Another Year by Mike Leigh and  Poetry by Lee Chang-dong

FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics)
Tournee (“On Tour”) by Mathieu Amalric