The weekend flew by with no signs of slowing down, starting with Saturday night’s cocktail party at the Carlton Terrace, where wine started flowing early for everyone celebrating Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant‘s new film, Two Weeks Notice.
Also on Saturday, Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos hosted their après-midnight exclusive screening of Brian de Palma‘s Femme Fatale. Melanie Griffith, wearing a red-carpet shade of lipstick, accompanied her husband up the Palais steps.
Finally, Sunday: awards night! A full moon graced the Riviera, bathing the winners in a light the paparazzi couldn’t rival.
A screening of Jeremy Irons‘s movie And Now… Ladies and Gentlemen coincides with the closing ceremony. In it, he plays an English gangster who meets a burnt-out jazz singer (played by real-life French pop star Patricia Kass) in Morocco.
David Lynch has quite a decorated history here in Cannes. In 1990 he won the coveted Palme d’Or for Wild at Heart, last year he won Best Director for Mulholland Drive, and last week he was awarded the French Legion of Honor while he was the head of the jury. On Sunday, everybody was waiting to find out from him who’d won what!
Martin Scorsese headed the short film competition with the help of fellow judge Tilda Swinton (Orlando) and others. Co-winners of the Jury Prize were The Stone of Folly, a story about a medieval-era doctor by Canadian director Jesse Rosensweet, and Very, Very Silent Film, by Indian director Manish Jua. Peter Meszaros of Hungary won the Palm d’Or of Short Film for Eso Utan.
The Camera d’Or is a prize that any first-time feature director in any part of the festival is eligible to win. This year two winners were awarded the Camera: French helmer Julie Lopes-Curval for Bord du Mar, about love in a seaside town, and Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas for Japon, a story about redemption. Both films were part of the Directors Fortnight.
Mulholland Drive star Naomi Watts presented Michael Moore with the 55th Anniversary of Cannes Award for the first documentary ever to win, Bowling for Columbine. Michael attempted to make his acceptance speech in very labored French, and it was unclear what the locals thought of his mangled repartee.
Andie MacDowell awarded Elia Suleiman the Prix du Jury (the bronze prize.) His Divine Intervention is the first Palestinian movie in Competition.
Paul Laverty won the Best Screenplay Award for his work on Ken Loach‘s latest, Sweet Sixteen.
For the second year in a row, two directors shared the Best Director prize. In 2001, David Lynch and Joel Cohen shared it. This year it went to South Korean director Im Kwon-Taek for Chihwaseon, about a painter, and Paul Thomas Anderson for his dark romantic comedy Punch-Drunk Love, starring Adam Sandler.
The Best Actor award went to Belgian director Olivier Gourmet for his role in The Son from Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. Best Actress went to Finnish performer Kati Outinen in The Man Without a Past. The movie, directed by Aki Kaurismakis, won the Grand Prix. Perhaps the silver medal wasn’t good enough for him, because when he fumbled onstage to accept the award, he said, “I thank myself,” and returned to his seat!
The big winner? Diminutive Roman Polanski loomed large at the festival this year. He received The Palme d’Or for The Pianist, a movie about the life of the Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman living in the Warsaw ghetto, starring Adrien Brody.
…and that’s a wrap! Catch you next year live from Cannes!
