I, Daniel Blake, Personal Shopper, The Salesman are among the top winners of Cannes Film Festival 2016
The 69th Cannes Film Festival, filled with great moments and beautiful movies, ended on Sunday when the Palme d’Or was awarded to “I, Daniel Blake,” a film about a carpenter with a heart condition up against the heartlessness of bureaucracy, from the veteran British director Ken Loach. The award was presented by Mel Gibson.
The British filmmaker, Ken Loach who previously won the Palme d’Or for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, gave a passionate speech about the state of the economy and social and political systems while accepting his award.
“The world is at a dangerous point, with ‘austerity’ driven by the ideals of neo-liberalism that have brought us to near-catastrophe, that have brought hardship to many in Greece in the East and Portugal and Spain in the West and grotesque wealth to a few,” he said. “There is the danger of despair that people from the far right take advantage. Some of us who are old remember what that was like. So we must say something else is possible, another world is possible and necessary.”
The best actor prize was awarded to Shahab Hosseini, the star of Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman. He previously starred in A Separation, also directed by Farhadi.
It was a huge night for actress Jaclyn Jose and the cast and crew of Ma’ Rosa, after the star won the Best Actress award at the 2016 Cannes film festival awards’ closing ceremony Sunday, May 22.
This is the first best actress win at Cannes for the Philippines. Brillante Mendoza won the first best director honor at Cannes back in 2009 for Kinatay. Another Filipino talent Raymond Red won the Short Film Palme d’Or in 2000.
The Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan won the Grand Prix, second only to the Palme d’Or, for “It’s Only the End of the World,” a decision booed by the press, who watched the ceremony in a live feed from a theater in the same building. “Thank you for feeling the emotion of the film,” Mr. Dolan said, choking up as booing continued from critics across the hallway. “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki,” a black-and-white movie about a boxer, from the Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, was awarded the prize for Un Certain Regard, a section reserved for younger and sometimes more adventurous filmmakers.
The jury prize was given to Andrea Arnold for American Honey. Sasha Lane stars alongside Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough in Arnold’s first U.S. feature about a teen runaway who takes up with a traveling youth crew.
Two filmmakers were given the honor of best director: Cristian Mungiu for Graduation and Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper.
Assayas’ Personal Shopper stars Kristen Stewart as a woman who is a medium and searching for her dead twin brother.
A full list of the festival winners is below:
Palme d’Or: I, Daniel Blake
Grand Prix: Xavier Dolan, It’s Only the End of the World
Jury Prize: Andrea Arnold, American Honey
Best Director: Cristian Mungiu (Graduation) and Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper)
Best Actress: Jaclyn Jose, Ma ‘Rosa
Best Actor: Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman
Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman
Palme d’Honneur: Jean-Pierre Léaud
Caméra d’Or (for best first feature): Divines (director: Houda Benyamina)
Short Film Palme d’Or: Timecode
