Cannes 2010 Film Festival: Winners & Losers

Well, after about two weeks, the Cannes Film Festival has just come to a close, and the jury has come in with what they think are the best of the best from this year’s festival.

Jury head Tim Burton and company have come in, and it appears as though they’ve picked some interesting choices. The Palme d’Or went to Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s film Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives. The film beat out Xavier Beauvois’ Of God And Men, with the latter garnering the most buzz as a possible Best Foreign Film Oscar contender this year. Big names have taken home the top acting prizes, with Javier Bardem and Juliette Binoche taking home best actor and actress for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s polarizing Biutiful and Abbas Kiarostami’s beloved Certified Copy respectfully. The final big award was also quite a shocking pick, as Best Director went to actor turned filmmaker Mathieu Almaric for his film, La Tournee. Also, in its first outing, the Queer Palm Award went to Greg Araki for his film, Kaboom.

However beloved these films and performances may or may not be, one thing is certain, critics have been less than favorable to this year’s festival.

This year’s festival found massive names. Ridley Scott and his opening night film, Robin Hood. Woody Allen and his latest, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. Oliver Stone’s return to greed with Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. However, all films met to middling, or poor response. Then, you have films from such greats as French god, Jean Luc-Godard, which was arguably one of the most disappointing films according to critics. Then there were the rare few that actually brought out energy from critics. Hell, most of the news that this festival found itself behind came thanks to films, not even yet in production, attempting to find some sort of funding. Films like Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, and David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, all hit the Croisette with guns and financiers a blazing.

All this becomes especially noticeable when comparing this year’s festival to that of last year. Films like A Prophet took the festival by storm with how great they were, and films like Lars von Trier’s Antichrist became the lightning rod that it now is, at this festival. There were no breakout hits. No legendary tales of screenings and press conferences gone awry. Just a film festival, started and finished without much of the glitz, glamour, or hype that it has become known for.

Palme d’Or:

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Grand Prix (runner-up):

Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (Of God and Men), directed by Xavier Beauvois

Prix de la Mise en Scene (best director):

Mathieu Amalric for “Tournée” (On Tour)

Prix du Scenario (best screenplay):

Poetry by Lee Chang-dong

Camera d’Or (best first feature):

Año Bisiesto directed by Michael Rowe

Prix du Jury (jury prize):

A Screaming Man directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Prix d’interpretation feminine (best actress):

Juliette Binoche for “Certified Copy” (directed by Abbas Kiarostami)

Prix d’interpretation masculine (best actor – a Tie):

Javier Bardem for “Biutiful” (directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu)

and

Elio Germano for “La Nostra Vita” (directed by Daniele Luchetti)

Palme d’Or (short film):

Chienne d’Histoire directed by Serge Avedikian

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Also winning awards at the Festival de Cannes:

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Prize of Un Certain Regard: “Ha Ha Ha,” directed by Hong Sangsoo

Jury Prize: “Octubre,” directed by Daniel Vega & Diego Vega

Special Prize: The three actresses—Adela Sanzhez, Eva Bianco, and Victoria Rapos—from Ivan Fund & Santiago Losa’s “Los Labios” (The Lips)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT

Art Cinema Award: “Pieds nus sur les limaces”, directed by Fabienne Berthaud (France)

Prix SACD/SACD Prize: “Illégal”, directed Olivier Masset-Depasse (Belgium – Luxembourg – France).

Label Europa Cinemas: “Le Quattro Volte”, directed by Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy)

PRIX SFR: “Cautare”, directed Ionut Piturescu (Romania) and “Mary Last Seen,” directed by Sean Durkin (USA)

Palm Dog Award: Vuk, the goatherd’s dog in “Le Quattro Volte,“ directed by by Michelangelo Frammartino

INTERNATIONAL CRITICS’ WEEK

Grand Prix Semaine de la Critique: “Armadillo,” directed by Janus Metz

SACD Prize: “Bi, dung so!” (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid!), directed by Phan Dang Di

ACID/CCAS Support: “Bi, dung so!” (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid!), directed by Phan Dang Di

OFAJ (Very) Young Critic Award: “Sound of Noise,” directed by Ola Simonsson & Johannes Stjaerne Nilsson

Canal+ Award for Best Short Film: “Berik,” directed by Daniel Joseph Borgman

Kodak Discovery Award for Best Short Film: “Deeper Than Yesterday,” directed by Ariel Kleiman

FIPRESCI CRITICS AWARDS

Cannes Competition: “Tournée,” directed by Mathieu Amalric

Un Certain Regard: “Pal Adrienn,” directed by Agnes Kocsis

Director’s Fortnight/Critics’ Week: “Todos vos sodes capitans,” directed by Olivier Laxe

QUEER PALM AWARD:

“Kaboom,” directed by Gregg Araki

Source: The Playlist / The Independent