It has been a busy week at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and what better way to wrap up the festival than with Neon continuing its Palme d’Or streak, making it a fifth win in a row. Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which received the highest scores in the critic’s grid, also takes home the covetous prize, the Palme d’Or. Will it have the same fate as last year’s winner “Anatomy of a Fall”, which ended up being nominated for five Oscars, winning the award for Best Screenplay?
The film stars Mikey Maddison as a sex worker who impulsively gets married to a Russian Oligarch (Mark Eydelstein) whilst in Vegas.
“All We Imagine as Light,” by Indian director Payal Kapadia, marked the first time in thirty years an Indian film competed for awards at Cannes. However, it did not disappoint, taking home the Grand Jury Prix! Another acclaimed film that was released on the final days of the festival was Mohammed Rasoulof’s Iranian film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Rasoulof’s appearance at the festival was surprising, given he was forced to flee his country after covertly shooting the film which is critical of the theocracy that dominates Iranian politics. The film took home the Special Prize, a particularly novel win, given the award is rarely given out.
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For the first time since 2006’s “Volver,” the award for Best Actress went to an ensemble cast; this time to the celebrated cast of Jacques Audiard’s musical Emilia Perez, specifically Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Karla Sofia Gascon. The film was one of the largest acquisitions of the festival, picked up by Netflix for $12 million. Emilia Perez added to this by also winning the Jury Prize, making it the only film to win multiple awards at the festival. Yorgos Lanthimos meanwhile continues his hot streak of directing awards and acclaimed performances, with Jesse Pleamons playing three characters in the anthology film “Kinds of Kindness” taking home the prize for best actor.
Best director went to Miguel Gomes for his film “Grand Tour”, a perhaps surprising win. His tale, set in Burma during the days of the British Empire, received mixed reviews from critics. Best screenplay, on the other hand, went to Coralie Fargeat for “The Substance,” celebrated for being one of the most audacious projects of the festival. The Queer Palm, previously given to films such as Todd Haynes’ “Carol” and Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” went to “Three Kilometeres to the End of the World” from the Romanian director Emanuel Parvu, about a teenager’s journey of self-discovery in a rural conservative Romanian community.
The Camera d’Or for a first-time director went to Halfdan Ulmman Tondel’s “Armand”, which premiered in this year’s Un Certain Regard competition, although didn’t take home any awards in that section. A special mention went to Chian Wei Liang and You Qiao Yin’s “Mongrel,” which premiered as part of the Director’s Fortnight series. Finally, the Golden Eye Documentary award was shared between “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” about the first black freelance photographer in apartheid South Africa, and “The Brink of Dreams,” about a group of Coptic girls who form an all-female street theatre group.
