Cannes Kudos: Winners Announced

Francois Begaudeau stars in Laurent Cantet’s Entre Les Murs, this year’s Palme D’Or winner. 

The votes are in and the prizes at the Cannes Film Festival have been announced. IndieWIRE posted the list for those of us not lucky enough to be on the Riviera (which includes me, and now I’m rather depressed about it).

The Palme D’Or, the festival’s highest award went to Laurent Cantet’s Entre Les Murs (The Class). IndieWIRE’s synopsis says it is about:

“…Francois, a high school teacher who is preparing for a new year in a tough neighborhood. Considered non pompous or overly strict, his extravagant frankness is often a surprise for his students. His classroom ethics, however, are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his teaching methods.”

In the New York Times yesterday, A. O. Scott (who listed the translated title as the much more probable Between the Walls) noted that the story of the teacher with the classroom full of toughs has been done plenty of times, but Cantet makes it seem fresh with a blunt, unsentimental approach:

The teacher, François (played by François Begaudeau, himself a teacher and the author of the book on which the film is based), is devoted and hard-working but hardly a hero. He is capable of losing his cool and lashing out at his students. More frequently he resorts to sarcasm, partly to parry their provocations and partly, one suspects, to protect himself from his emotional investment in them. Not that he would admit to any such feelings. François is a professional, doing a difficult job with the seriousness and alacrity it demands.

When presenting the award, jury president Sean Penn stated that the award had been unanimous.

Other major awards included best director to Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys; best screenplay to Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Le Silence de Lorna; Gomorra, directed by Matteo Garrone, won the grand prix runner-up prize; and the festival’s jury prize went to Il Divo directed by Paolo Sorrentino.

Acting honors went to Sandra Corveloni for Linha de Passe and Benicio del Toro for Che. Upon receiving the award, del Toro said:

“I have to dedicate this to the man himself, Che Guevara and I want to share this with Steven Soderbergh… He was there pushing it even when there [were lulls] and pushing all of us.” [Later, at a post ceremony press conference] “I wouldn’t be here with out Che and therefore this award belong to Che too…It is a great night for being Latin American and it’s a great night for cinema.”

(It’s up to you to determine how admirable Che Guevara really is.)

Keep reading for the whole award list:

Palme d’Or: “Entre Les Murs” (”The Class”), directed by Laurent Cantet

Grand Prix (runner-up): “Gomorra,” directed by Matteo Garrone

Prix de la Mise en Scene (best director): Nuri Bilge Ceylan for “Three Monkeys”

Prix du Scenario (best screenplay): Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne for “Le Silence de Lorna”

Camera d’Or (best first feature): “Hunger,” directed by Steve McQueen
special mention: “Ils mourront tous sauf moi,” directed by Valeria Gai Guermanika

Prix du Jury (jury prize): “Il Divo,” directed by Paolo Sorrentino

Prix d’interpretation feminine (best actress): Sandra Corveloni for “Linha de Passe”

Prix d’interpretation masculine (best actor): Benicio del Toro for “Che”

Prix de 61st Festival de Cannes: Catherine Deneuve (”Un Conte de noel”) and Clint Eastwood (”The Exchange”)

Palme d’Or (short film): “Metron,” directed by Marian Crisan
special mention: “Jerrycan,” directed by Julius Avery

Also taking prizes at the 61st Festival de Cannes:

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Prix Un Certain Regard: Sergey Dvortsevoy’s “Tulpan”
Jury prize: Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s “Tokyo Sonata”
Other winners: Andreas Dresen’s “Wolke 9” (Heat Throb Jury Prize), James Toback’s “Tyson” (The Knockout of Un Certain Regard) and Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s “Johnny Mad Dog” (The Prize of Hope).

Get the latest from the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in indieWIRE’s special section.