That’s a wrap on Cannes. The closing night ceremony of the 71st Cannes Film Festival took place this afternoon with President Cate Blanchett presiding over her group of jurors including Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Ava DuVernay, Denis Villeneuve and more. Despite a groundswell of late-days support for Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” (watch the trailer) and Bi Gan’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night“— both films wowing critics and audience in the dwindling days of the festival— both went home emptyhanded. Instead, it was Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-Eda whose acclaimed humanist effort, “Shoplifters” won the top prize, aka the Palme d’Or. Kore-Eda had been present at Cannes seven times previously and his 2013 film, “Like Father, Like Son,” won the Jury Prize that year. Apparently, the jury decision was unanimous. “No blood was shed,” she said today.
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Spike Lee’s “BlackkKlansman” won the runner-up Grand Prize which still may not make up for Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” losing the Palme d’Or in 1989 to Steven Soderbergh’s “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.” Lee took the loss notoriously poorly at the time, and some have suggested stayed bitter over for years (Wim Wenders, the head of the Jury that year, recently brought up his anger over the loss again).
READ MORE: ‘Shoplifters’ Trailer: Filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda Is Back With His Latest
The rest of the prizes were spread somewhat evenly as is usually the case: Nadine Lanaki’s “Capernaum,” awarded the Jury Prize (though said to be a top contender for the Palme) with Pawel Pawlikowski receiving the Best Director accolade for his black and white film “Cold War.” Cannes 71 was marked by its female-heavy jury and its pervasive conversation of inclusion and diversity in the post #MeToo era. Many had suggested and speculated the Palme d’Or would go to a female director— Jane Campion is the only female filmmaker to have won the award at Cannes—but ultimately, the jury seemed to vote with their hearts beyond anything else. Full winners list below.
Palme d’Or
Shoplifters, dir: Hirokazu Kore-Eda
Grand Prize
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman [our review]
Jury Prize
Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
Special Palme d’Or
Jean-Luc Godard, Image Book [our review]
Best Actor
Marcello Fonte, Dogman
Best Director
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War [our review]
Best Screenplay
TIE
Alice Rohrwacher, Happy As Lazzaro [our review]
Nader Saeivar, 3 Faces
Best Actress
Samal Yeslyamova, My Little One
Caméra d’Or
Girl, dir: Lukas Dhont [our review]
Short Film Palme d’Or
All These Creatures, dir: Charles Williams
Special Mention: On The Border, dir: Wei Shujun
We’re still rolling our Cannes reviews, so you’ll see some full takes on some of these films including the Palme d’Or winner, “Shoplifters.”
Follow along with all our 2018 Cannes Film Festival coverage here.
