Festivals

Cannes Film Festival 2009

Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon Claims the Palme d'Or

(May 24th, 2009)--Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, a chilly black-and-white parable of fascism set in a small German town on the eve of World War I, claimed the coveted Palme d'Or, as the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival concluded its 12-day run on Sun, May 24th in France.

The White Ribbon was a surprise winner over the critics' favorite, Jacques Audiard's A Prophet, the story of a 19-year-old Corsican youth condemned to six years in prison, which received the Grand Prix award. Andrea Arnold's council estate drama, Fish Tank, and Park Chan-Wook's Korean erotic vampire thriller Thirst shared the Jury Prize.

Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah, a tale of young love in a troubled indigenous community in Aboriginal Australia, claimed the prestigious Camera d'Pr for best first film. Charlotte Gainsbourg was named best actress for Lars von Trier's shocking horror flick Antichrist, while Christoph Waltz, aka "the Jew Hunter" in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, took home the best actor prize.

Chinese director Lou Ye won the best screenplay award for Spring Fever, while the prize for best director went to Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay.

THE 2009 AWARD WINNERS

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY
Palme D'Or--"Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)", Michael Haneke
Grand Prix--"Un Prophete (A Prophet)", Jacques Audiard
Lifetime Achievement Award--Alain Resnais
Best Actress--Charlotte Gainsbourg, "Antichrist"
Best Actor--Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
Best Director--Brillante Mendonza, "Kinatay"
Best Screenplay--Mei Feng, "Chun Feng Chen Zui De Ye Wan (Spring Fever)"
Special Jury Prize--"Fish Tank" (Andrea Arnold) / "Bak-Jwi (Thirst)" (Park Chan-Wook)
Technical Prize--Aitor Berenguer, sound tech for "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo"

SHORT FILM JURY
Palme D'Or--"Arena" (Joao Salaviza)
Special Distinction--"The Six Dollar Fifty Man" (Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland)

UN CERTAIN REGARD JURY
Un Certain Regard Prize--"Kynodontas (Dogtooth)", Yorgos Lanthimos
Jury Prize--"Politist, Adjectiv (Police, Adjective)", Corneliu Proumboiu)
Special Prize--
"Kasi Az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh (No One Knows About Persian Cats)", Bahman Ghobadi
"Le Pere De Mes Enfants (Father of My Children)", Mia Hansen-Love

CAMERA D'OR JURY
Camera D'Or--"Samson and Delilah" (Warwick Thornton)
Special Mention--"Ajami" (Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani)

CINEFONDATION JURY
First Prize--"Baba" (Zuzana Kirchnerova-Spidlova)
Second Prize--"Goodbye" (Song Fang)
Third Prize--(shared) "Diploma" (Yaelle Kayam) / "Nammae Ui Jip (Don't Step Out of the House)" (Jo Sung-hee)

For more information on this year's goings-on, check out the Cannes Film Festival OFFICIAL SITE.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY
Palme D'Or--"Entre Le Murs (The Class)", Laurent Cantet (France)
Grand Prix--"Gomorra", Matteo Garrone
61st Anniversary Prize--Catherine Deneuve, "Un Conte De Noel" / Clint Eastwood, "The Exchange"
Best Actress--Sandra Corveloni, "Lihna De Passe"
Best Actor--Benecio Del Toro, "Che"
Best Director--Nuri Bilge Ceylan, "Uc Maymun (Three Monkeys)"
Best Screenplay--Jeane-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, "Lorna's Silence"
Special Jury Prize--"Il Divo" (Paolo Sorrentino)
Technical Prize--Luca Bigazzi, Angelo Raguseo, "Il Divo"

SHORT FILM JURY
Palme D'Or--"Megatron" (Marian Crisan)
Jury Prize--"Jerrycan" (Julius Avery)

UN CERTAIN REGARD JURY
Un Certain Regard Prize--"Tulpan" (Sergey Dvortsevoy)
Special Jury Prize--"Tokyo Sonata" (Kurosawa Kyoshi)
Heart Throb Jury Prize--"Wolke 9" (Andreas Drese)
The Knockout of Un Certain Regard--"Tyson" (James Toback)
Prize Of Hope--"Johnny Mad Dog" (Jean-Stephane Sauvaire)

CAMERA D'OR JURY
Camera D'Or--"Hunger" (StevERA D'OR JURY
Camera D'Or--"Hunger" (Steve McQueen)
Special Mention--""Vse Umrut A Ja Ostanus (They Will Die All But Me)", Valeria Gai Guermanika

CINEFONDATION JURY
First Prize--"Himnon (Shymn)", Elad Keidan
Second Prize--"Forbach" (Claire Burger)
Third Prize--(shared) "Stop" (Park Jae-ok) / "Kestomerkitsijat" (Juho Kuosmanen)