Cannes Film Festival: Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Shoplifters' wins prestigious Palm d'Or

World
Europe

03:17

Japanese director Hizokazu Kore-eda's tender portrait of a poor, improvised family "Shoplifters" has won the Palme d'Or, the top award at the Cannes Film Festival. While Lebanese director Nadine Labaki's "Capernaum", which was the early favorite, was instead, given Cannes' jury prize.

In the Cannes closing ceremony Saturday, the jury selected one of the festival's most acclaimed entries, one hailed as a modest masterpiece from a veteran filmmaker renowned for his delicate touch. "Shoplifters" is about a small-time thief who takes a young girl home to his family; after seeing scars from abuse, they decide to keep her and raise her as their own.

While many speculated the Cate Blanchett-led jury might award only the second Palme d'Or to a film directed by a woman, the most likely contender — Lebanese director Nadine Labaki's "Capernaum" — was instead given Cannes' jury prize. The film drew a rousing standing ovation but less enthusiastic critic reviews for its tale of a 12-year-old boy living in poverty who sues his parents for neglect.

Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," the highest profile American film in competition at Cannes, was awarded the grand prize. The film ignited the French Riviera festival with its true tale of a black police detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Lee connected the film to the modern day with real footage from last year's violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski took best director for his follow-up to the Oscar-winning "Ida", ″Cold War". Like "Ida", "Cold War" is a black-and-white period film that delves into Polish history. It's about an up-and-down romance in post-war Poland and Paris, behind and outside the Soviet Iron Curtain.

Best actress went to Samal Yeslyamova for Kazakh writer-director Sergey Dvortsevoy's "Ayka". Taking best actor was Marcello Fonte for Matteo Garrone's "Dogman", an award that was presented by fellow Italian actor Roberto Benigni.

The prize for best screenplay was split between Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher's time-warped fable about a poor farm boy in rural Italy "Happy as Lazzaro" and Nader Saeivar and Jafar Panahi's script for "Three Faces".

The 12-day festival was shaken by debate over gender equality in the film industry and at Cannes. In a striking rally, 82 women — the same number of female filmmakers to ever be selected to the Cannes competition lineup — stood on the Palais red-carpet steps, as Cate Blanchett said, "a symbol of our determination to change and progress."