Cannes 2024 – The closing ceremony between surprises, emotions and disappointments
The closing ceremony of the 77th Cannes Film Festival has just ended, marked by surprises and controversies. While the credits at the start of the ceremony paraded in tribute to the Star Wars saga, expectations were at their height after two intense weeks of cinema. But the evening was not free from disappointments, especially when the prize list was announced.
The major awards of the evening
The ceremony saw several films and artists rewarded for their exceptional contributions to the cinema. Jesse Plemmons won the very deserved prize for best actor for his roles in Kinds of Kindness From Yorgos Lanthimos, an anthology film that also brought together Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe.
The prize for the best female interpretation was awarded collectively to the actresses of the film Emilia Perez by Jacques Audiard, with a special mention for Karla Sofía Gascón, the first trans actress to win a prize in Cannes. This choice of the jury has been widely applauded for its audacity and its inclusive message.
The prize for the best screenplay was awarded to the film The substance who deserved it, and which was distinguished by its originality. But the film would have deserved to also win at least the best production price for Coralie Fargeat.
The Grand Prix for All we imagine as light
The Grand Prix, presented by the famous actress Viola Davis, returned to All we imagine as light of Payal Kapadia. This film, the first Indian film in competition in Cannes since 1994, was hailed for its originality and its sensitivity. Kapadia took advantage of his speech to display her solidarity with the workers of the festival, fighting for better working conditions, and wore a badge from the collective “under the screens the Dèche”.
George Lucas Honoré for his entire career
A golden palm of honor has been awarded to George Lucas for the whole of his career. This distinction was given to him by Francis Ford Coppola, adding an emotional touch to the ceremony. George Lucas said: ” I came here today to thank you all. Me, I am only a kid who grew up in the middle of California, in the midst of the vines and who made films in San Francisco with my friend Francis Coppola. So we have made our whole career in parallel, and especially in San Francisco. In fact, I have never made a film in Hollywood as a director. So it’s a great honor to be here. I can tell you».
The controversy around the prize awarded to Mohammad Rasoulof
Big disappointment when the prize awarded to Mohammad Rasoulof’s film. On X (formerly Twitter), the criticisms expressed their stupor and their dissatisfaction when the special prize was awarded to the Iranian film The seeds of the wild fig. This film, acclaimed by criticism and considered almost unanimously as the natural pretender to the Palme d’Or, ultimately received only a prize that many perceived as a lot of consolation. As much the other prices seemed to be consensus, as much this decision aroused a deep shock.
It should be noted that during the day, The seeds of the wild fig had already collected several prices granted by other juries: The Fipresci price, The 2024 ART & ESSE cinemas, the Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Grand Prix – François Chalais Prize.
Mohammad Rasoulof’s poignant speech
The speech of Mohammad Rasoulof, director of The seeds of the wild figwas one of the most poignant moments of the evening. Fleeing Iran a few weeks before the festival, Mohammad Rasoulof dedicated his price to his team who remained in Iran and under pressure from the secret services of the Islamic Republic. He expressed his gratitude while denouncing the desperate situation of his country, calling for international solidarity towards imprisoned artists and intellectuals, like the musician Toomaj Salehi, condemned to death for his art. Rasoulof said: ” Thank you all, let me have a thought first for all the members of my team who are not with me here today to celebrate this moment, celebrate this price. There are some of my actors, there are my head operator, my sound engineer, a number of technicians, who are retained in Iran, and who are currently under pressure from the secret services of the Islamic Republic, so my heart is above all with them. And if I have to talk to you about my heart again, I can tell you that it is in a very ambivalent state, I am obviously very happy that the film is finished, that it is presented here, that it is recognized this evening by this price, but I am also very sad, deeply grieved by the catastrophe that my people lives on a daily basis. Every day, every morning, every moment, the Iranian people live under a totalitarian regime which took it hostage. So indeed the situation is serious in many places in the world, people suffer in many places in the world, but I can simply tell you that my people, the Iranian people, is taken hostage by this regime of the Islamic Republic. So here I still want to salute and thank all the people who made this film possible, all these young women whose courage, boundless audacity, its summer the inspiration of this film. These actresses who are here, all the members of this team who were able to come and those who once again could not come, But also my co -producers, my distributors, all those who hand in hand have made the miracle of this film possible. Thank you very much at the festival for inviting us. Thanks to you, jury, for distinguishing us.
I will simply add a word to talk about artists, academics, filmmakers, journalists who are today in Iranian jails, and I more specifically want to talk about Toomaj Salehi who is condemned to death today only because of his artistic creation. Do not allow the Islamic Republic to deals with Iranians. »»
The Palme d’Or for Anora from Sean Baker
The Palme d’Or, the highest distinction of the festival, was attributed to Anora De Sean Baker, a romantic comedy described as a cross between “Cinderella” and “Pretty Woman”, with a large dose of sex scenes. Despite its qualities of consumer entertainment, and the depth of its characters, Anora was criticized for its lack of originality, making its choice for the Palme d’Or particularly controversial.
Sean Baker is the first American director to win the palm from Terrence Malick to The Tree of Life in 2011.
Sean Baker, receiving his palm of gold, stressed the importance of the cinema room, faced with the rise in home viewing: “ This palm of gold is what I have dreamed of as a director in the past 40 years, so I don’t know what I will do with the time I have to live, but I know that I will continue to fight in favor of cinema, because currently as directors, we must fight so that the cinema remains alive. We make films, we have to make films to make theaters. The world must remember that seeing a film on your mobile phone at home, well, it’s not the way to see films, even if some high -tech companies would like it to be so. Seeing a film in a room is different. We share sadness, fear, laughter and we share something with our friends or with strangers, it’s sacred. So I think the future of cinema is where it has started, namely in a movie theater. (…) This palm of gold is for all sex workers, past, present and future ».
The list of this 77th Edition:
The jury, chaired by Greta Gerwig, surrounded by Ebru Ceylan, Lily Gladstone, Eva Green, Nadine Labaki, Juan Antonio Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, Kore-Eda Hirokazu and Omar Sy, rewarded the following films among the 22 in competition:
- Palm of gold :: Anora from Sean Baker
- Grand Prix :: All we imagine as light of Payal Kapadia
- Jury prize :: Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard
- Staging price : Miguel Gomes for Tall tour
- Special price : Mohammad Rasoulof for The seeds of the wild fig
- Male interpretation price : Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness de Yórgos lánthimos
- Female interpretation : Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez in Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard
- Scenario prize :: The substance of Coralie Fargeat
Other juries, other prices:
Short films:
– Golden palm of the short film :: The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Nebojša Slijepčević
– Special mention of short film :: Bad for at times by Daniel Soares
- A certain look price :: Black dog by Guan Hu
- Jury prize : The story of Souleymane de Boris Lojkine
- EXAQUO staging prize : Roberto Minervini for The damned and Rungano Nyoni for on Becoming in Guinea Fowl
- Female interpretation : Anasuya Sengupta in The Shameless
- Male interpretation price : Abu Sangaré in Souleymane’s story
- Youth Prize :: Twenty gods de Louise Courvoisier (1st film)
- Special mention :: Norah by Tawfik Alzaidi (1st film)
Golden Camera
- Armand by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (a certain look)
- Special mention: Mongrel by Wei Liang Chiang & You Qiao Yin
The cinef
- First prize Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know… From Chidananda S Naik
- Second price ex æquo: Out the window through the wall by Asya Segalovich and The Chaos She Left Behind from Nikos Kolioukos
- Third price: Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari
Higher Technical Commission
The 2024 jury of the artist-technician CST Prize awards the Prix to Daria d’Antonio, an image of the image of image of Parthenopefrom Paolo Sorrentino. The images of Daria d’Antonio offer to Parthenope Perfect cinematography with grace and beauty.
The 2024 jury of the young technician CST price is proud to award this year the prize in Evgenia Alexandrova, film operator head Women on the balcony From Noémie Merlant for the quality of his photograph in saturated colors and his stated light direction which transports us from comedy to genre film.
This 77th Cannes Film Festival, despite the controversies, will remain in memories for his exceptional moments of cinema and the passionate debates he aroused. The moving speeches and the positions of the winners stressed the importance of cinema as a vector of powerful social and political messages, once again confirming the essential role of Cannes in the world film industry.
Neïla Driss
