The big winners from this year’s Cannes Film Festival have been announced. The prestigious Palme d’Or went to Ruben Östlund for his new film The Square, starring Elisabeth Moss. The movie is a followup to Östlund’s Force Majeure, which won the festival’s Jury Prize in 2014. From Indiewire:
Technically, The Square was inspired by a 2014 installation project by Ostlund designed to test participants’ moral code, which is similar to the piece hosted at the gallery run by slick curator Christian (Claes Bang) that invites visitors to choose different paths based on whether or not they trust people. Early on, Christian meets with a group of eager marketing experts who can’t figure out how to sell the show to a broader audience.
Sofia Coppola took home the prize for best director and became the second woman to win the award in Cannes history. It was for her new film The Beguiled, a remake of Don Siegel’s 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood as an injured Union soldier who becomes imprisoned in a Confederate girls’ boarding school. Coppola’s remake stars Nicole Kidman, who won a special Cannes prize for her appearance in competition projects Killing of a Sacred Deer, Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake, and How to Talk to Girls at Parties. Coppola accepted her award and gave thanks to director Jane Campion for being a role model, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Other winners included Best Actress Diane Kruger for In the Fade, Best Actor Joaquin Phoenix for You Were Never Really Here, Jury Prize winner Andrey Svyagintsev’s Loveless, and Grand Prix winner Robin Campillo’s BPM (Beats Per Minute).
This year’s Cannes jury included president Pedro Almodóvar and members Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui, Park Chan-wook, Maren Ade, Paolo Sorrentino, and Gabriel Yared.