Iranian director Jafar Panahi accepted the Palme d’Or for “It Was Just an Accident,” a film directly inspired by his time in prison at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.

Panahi’s film is filled with equal parts absurdist humour and rage, following five characters who believe they have identified the prosecutor who tortured them during their own detention, but because they were all blindfolded in jail, no one is confident that their captor is the same man.

The awards ceremony unfolded more or less as planned on a turbulent last day for the otherwise calm event, which was hit with a power blackout mid-morning — a massive regional outage that disrupted screenings and caused general confusion among attendees. Fortunately, the festival had backup generators running, ensuring that the show would go on at the Palais, where jury president Juliette Binoche and eight other film artists took the stage to present their awards, reported Variety.
Neon also co-produced the Grand Prix winner, Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s layered family drama “Sentimental Value,” about a difficult filmmaker attempting to reconcile with his estranged daughter by casting her in his most personal film to date — an offer she can’t help but interpret as the man’s most egotistical gesture yet.

Accepting the award, Trier thanked Cannes for fostering a place “where we can identify with each other in contemplation, in empathy,” adding, “I don’t think art is just something you do for purpose or understanding. We don’t know why we do it. It’s something I watch my small children do. They sing and dance before they can speak. But it’s another language, it could be a language of unification.”
“Little Sister” star Nadia Melliti won the best actress prize. Best actor honours went to Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent,” in which he plays a father who disguises his identity in an attempt to evade assassination during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Kleber Mendonca Filho won best director for the same film, as per the outlet.

Alice Rohrwacher presented the Camera d’Or trophy for first feature to “The President’s Cake” director Hasan Hadi, who accepted the first award ever presented to an Iraqi film in Cannes, reported Variety.
In addition to Binoche, this year’s majority-female jury included Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani, American stars Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo, Mexican director Carlos Reygadas and Congolese filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi.

Full list of prizes below.

COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi
Grand Prix: “Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier
Director: Kleber Mendonca Filho, “The Secret Agent”
Actor: Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”
Actress: Nadia Melliti, “Little Sister”
Jury Prize — TIE: “Sirat,” Olivier Laxe AND “Sound of Falling,” Mascha Schilinski
Special Award (Prix Special): “Resurrection,” Bi Gan
Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, “Young Mothers”

OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: “The President’s Cake,” Hasan Hadi
Camera d’Or Special Mention: “My Fther’s Shadow,” Akinola Davies Jr.
Short Film Palme d’Or: “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now,” Tawfeek Barhom
Short Film Special Mention: “Ali,” Adnan Al Rajeev
Golden Eye Documentary Prize: “Imago,” Deni Oumar Pitsaev
Golden Eye Special Jury Prize: “The Six Billion Dollar Man,” Eugene Jarecki
Queer Palm: “Little Sister,” Hafsia Heerzi
Palme Dog: Panda, “The Love That Remains”
FIPRESCI Award (Competition): “The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonca Filho
FIPRESCI Award (Un Certain Regard): “Urchin,” Harris Dickinson
FIPRESCI Award (Parallel Sections): “Dandelion’s Odyssey,” Momoko Seto
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Award: “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” Diego Cespedes
Jury Prize: “A Poet,” Simon Mesa Soto
Best Director Prize: Tarzan and Arab Nasser, “Once Upon a Time in Gaza”
Performance Awards: Cleo Diara, “I Only Rest in the Storm”; Frank Dillane, “Urchin”
Best Screenplay: Harry Lighton, “Pillion”
Special Mention: “Norah,” Tawfik Alzaidi

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Europa Cinemas Label: “Wild Foxes,” Valery Carnoy
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Wild Foxes,” Valery Carnoy
Audience Choice Award: “The President’s Cake,” Hasan Hadi

CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “A Useful Ghost,” Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
French Touch Prize: “Imago,” Deni Oumar Pitsaev
GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: Le Pacte, “Left-Handed Girl”
Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Theodore Pellerin, “Nino”
Leitz Cine Discovery Prize (short film): “L’mina,” Randa Maroufi
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: Guillermo Galoe and Victor Alonso-Berbel, “Sleepless City”
Canal Short Film Award: “Erogenesis,” Xandra Popescu

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