Special celebration for the 70th Birthday of the Film Festival - Diane Kruger and "The Square" top Cannes
This year, the coveted Palme d'Or went to the Swedish film "The Square". For her special acting performances, Diane Kruger was honoured for her role in Faith Akin's "In the Fade".
The International Cannes Film Festival is one of the world's most important film festivals. Every year, the film's best of the best meet at the end of May on the Côte d'Azur. An annually alternating jury of filmmakers awards the coveted Palme d'Or for the best film. In addition, there are prizes in the single categories "female actor", "male actor", "director" and "screenplay".
This year's jury included the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, the Romanian director and script author Cristian Mungiu, as well as the American actor Will Smith and Jessica Chastain. The moderator of the opening ceremony and prize-giving gala this year was the Italian actress Monica Belucci, who was already a jury member in 2006.
For the best film "The Square" the Swedish director Ruben Östlund was honoured with the Palme d'Or. His film tells a story of a museum curator, whose life is lost on the loss of his cell phone. "The Square" considers topics such as morality, masculinity, bigotry of the bourgeoisie. Sweden for the first received the Golden Palm tree.
A very good decision of the jury was the award for the actress Diane Kruger. She plays a mother in the NSU drama "In the Fade" by Faith Akin, whose Kurdish-born husband and son were murdered by neo-Nazis. It was the first role in a German film for the German actress, who normally acts in the big US production of Hollywood. After the award, she said: "I am very proud and am so glad that I got the prize for my first German film."
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has already congratulated Diane Kruger and Faith Akin on the success. He stressed that the award in Cannes is a sign against the complacency about victims of strangers.
The award for the best actor received Joaquin Phoenix for his acting in Lynne Ramsay's thriller "You Were Never Really Here". Something special was the double award for the best screenplay. This year, the two films "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" by Giorgos Lanthimos and "You Were Never Really Here" received the coveted award.
