 "Cannes 2019: Antonio Banderas wins Best Actor for Pain and Glory; Mati Diop's Atlantics bags Grand Prix")
The 72nd edition of Cannes Film Festival officially came to a close on 25 May with the announcement of the winners of this years’ films and performances. This year, the jury was headed by Oscar winning-director Alejandro González Iñárritu, and also included Elle Fanning, Maimouna N’Diaye, Kelly Reichardt, Enki Bilal, Alice Rohrwacher, Robin Campillo, Yorgos Lanthimos and Paweł Pawlikowski. Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho bagged the prestigious Palme d’Or with his satirical dramedy, Parasite . French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, who was the first black female filmmaker in the Cannes Film Festival’s competition in its 72-year history, won the Grand Prix prize for her film, Atlantics .
The award for the best actress went to British actor Emily Beecham for Jessica Hausner’s Little Joe whereas Antonio Banderas scooped up the Best Actor prize for Pedro Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical Pain and Glory.
Belgium’s Dardenne brothers won the best director award for their story of a radicalised Muslim youth, _Young Ahmed._The pair are already Cannes legends with two Palme d’Or prizes under their belt, and Luc Dardenne said they wanted to show how a “young militant might develop his views”, paying tribute to young actor Idir Ben Addi for turning it into reality.
Meanwhile, Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights for Atlantics and the Critics’ Week Award winner I Lost My Body, reports Variety. For Atlantics, the worldwide deal excludes several countries such as China, Benelux, Switzerland, Russia and France. For I Lost My Body, the deal does not include China, Benelux, Turkey and France. Here’s a full list of winners at 2019 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or Parasite, Bong Joon-ho Grand Prix Atlantics, Mati Diop Best Director(s) Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, The Young Ahmed Best Actor Antonio Banderas, Pain And Glory Best Actress Emily Beecham, Little Joe Jury Prize Les Misérables, Ladj Ly (tie with) Bacurau, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles Best Screenplay Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma Special Mention It Must Be Heaven, Elia Suleiman Camera d’Or Our Mothers, Cesar Diaz Best Screenplay Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma Special Mention of the Jury It Must Be Heaven, Elia Suleiman Camera d’Or: Our Mothers, César Díaz Short Film Palme d’Or The Distance Between Us And The Sky, Vasilis Kekatos Special Mention of the Jury Monstruo Dios, Agustina San Queer Palm (Feature) Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma Queer Palm (Short) The Distance Between Us And The Sky, Vasilis Kekatos (With inputs from Agence France-Presse)