CANNES FAVOURS PAST WINNERS WITH 2016 COMPETITION PRIZES

One of the favourite sons of the Cannes Film Festival, veteran British director Ken Loach, has won the 2016 Palme d’Or for his working-class battlers drama I, Daniel Blake.

It is the second time the top honour earned by that the master of social realism, with his 2006 revolutionary story The Wind That Shakes the Barley also impressing the festival jury; in 2012, he won the Jury Prize for The Angel’s Share. The 79 year-old (pictured, above, accepting the honour) was first nominated for the Palme d’Or in 1981 for Looks and Smiles and has amassed 14 festival trophies in total. "Our breath has been taken away, as we weren't really expecting to come back (with this film)," said Loach, "We are all quietly stunned."

Aside from Loach’s well-received film, the weight of critical opinion held very little sway with Jury President, Australian director George Miller, and his fellow judges. French-Canadian enfant terrible Xavier Dolan’s critically reviled drama Juste La Fin Du Monde (It’s Only The End Of The World) took home the Grand Prix, an honour awarded last year to 2016 Jury member Laszlo Nemes for his holocaust drama Son of Saul (Dolan was a Juror in 2015). "After an experience like this evening, we realised that the film's message got through," said Dolan in the press conference.

The best-reviewed film of the festival, Maren Ade’s blackly funny drama Toni Erdmann, travels home empty-handed. “We avoided at looking what other people were saying,” said Miller, when asked about the perceived snub. “We did the best we could after many, many hours of conversation.” (Pictured, above; Xavier Dolan accepting the award).

The Best Director honour was split between Frenchman Olivier Assayas for his wildly divisive supernatural drama, Personal Shopper, and Romanian helmer Christian Mungui for Bacalaureat (Graduation). Both were past Cannes attendees, with Assayas previously nominated for 4 Palme d’Ors while Mungui earned three trophies in 2007 for 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days. British director Andrea Arnold took home her third Cannes gong (after Red Road, 2006; and Fish Tank, 2009), winning the Jury Prize for her American road movie odyssey, American Honey. (Featured, below; the trailer for Christian Mungui's Bacalaureat) 

As dictated by the current voting guidelines, which demand films that win the top honours cannot vie for further honours, jury love was shared across many contenders. Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi (Palme d’Or nominee for The Past, 2013) won the Best Screenplay Award for The Salesman, his tension-filled drama also earning Best Actor kudos for his leading man, Shahab Hosseini. Best Actress winner was Jaclyn Jose for Brilliante Mendoza’s Ma Rosa, the jury called upon to deflect questions that the performance was more a stunning support turn than the lead role.

The Camera d’Or for best debut film was won by French filmmaker Houda Benyamini for Divines, a contemporary look at the problems faced by young women in Paris.

Prior to this evening’s ceremony, awards were announced for other programmes strands. Un Certain Regard jury president, iconic Swiss actress Marthe Keller, issued a statement on behalf of her fellow judges,, noting, “Every film turned out to be rich in cinematic discoveries and insights into our world, addressing themes of family, politics and cultural differences." The top honour in this strand, Prize of Un Certain Regard was awarded to Juho Kuosmanen’s Hymyileva Mies (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki; pictured, right), a monochromatic boxing biopic, shot on 16mm, that represents a triumphant debut feature for the Finnish director. The French/Japanese co-production La Tortue Rouge (The Red Turtle), a dialogue-free animated drama from Studio Ghibli and Dutch director Michael Dudok de Wit took the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize, with the low-key thriller Fuchi Ni Tatsu (Harmonium) from Japanese director Fukada Kôji earned the second-place  Jury Prize. Individual trophies were awarded U.S. director Matt Ross for his upbeat family drama Captain Fantastic, starring Viggo Mortensen, while screenplay honours went to French siblings Delphine and Muriel Coulin for their military drama Voir du Pays (The Stopover).

Three prizes are awarded by the international critic’s organisation FIPRESCI. Cannes sensation Toni Erdmann, the darkly funny German/Austrian drama from Maren Ade, took Best Picture trophy for an In Competition title while Caini (Dogs) from Romanian Bogdan Mirica earned the corresponding honour from the Un Certain Regard line-up. The Best Picture winner from the Director’s Fortnight/Critic’s Week programme was the breakout horror hit from the festival, Julia Ducournau’s sibling rivalry/cannibal shocker Raw (scene clip, above).

The Cinefoundation strand honours short film contributions by student filmmakers, with 18 films (14 live action, 4 animated) shortlisted in 2016 for the three trophies. Jury president Naomi Kawase awarded first prize to Anna, directed by Or Sinai from Israel’s Sam Spiegel Film & TV School; second prize was awarded to In The Hills, directed by Hamid Ahmadi, from The London Film School. Jury members could not split a third placegetter amongst the hotly-contested category, dividing the honour between A Nyalintas Nesze, directed by Nadja Andrasev, of Hungary’s Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, and La Culpa Probablemente, directed by Michael Labarca from Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela. (Pictured, above; the Cinefoundation filmmakers)      

CANNES 2016: WHO'S WHO IN THE OFFICIAL COMPETITION JURY

Under the stewardship of Jury President George Miller, the films competing for the 2016 Festival de Cannes Palme d’Or will be judged by a jury of eight – four men and four women – each with their own highly-regarded status in world cinema. 

Some will be known by many; others, only by the most fervent followers of international film. So who are the 8 and what have they done to deserve their place on the Croisette…?

DONALD SUTHERLAND
Who? One of world cinema’s most respected actors, the 80 year-old Canadian’s career has encompassed star-making early roles (The Dirty Dozen; Kelly’s Heroes) iconic leading man turns (Klute; Don’t Look Now; Invasion of The Body Snatchers) and memorable support parts (Backdraft; JFK; The Hunger Games).
Cannes cred: Starred in Robert Altman’s 1970 Palme d’Or winner, MASH; in 2012, became a Commander of The Order of Arts and Letters, bestowed by French Minister of Culture for "significant contribution to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance."

ARNAUD DESPLECHIN
Who? A leading light in contemporary French cinema since his lauded 1991 debut, La vie des morts, the 55 year-old auteur has found unshakeable critical favour and commercial success both domestically (14 Cesar nominations, capped by a Best Director win in 2015 for his latest, My Golden Days) and abroad (official selection and trophy wins in Venice, Chicago, Munich, Lisbon and Avignon).
Cannes cred: Featured in the Official Competition line-up on five occasions - his debut feature, 1992’s The Sentinel; My Sex Life…or How I Got into an Apartment; Esther Kahn; A Christmas Tale (for which his leading lady, Catherine Deneuve, earned a Best Actress trophy); and, Jimmy P. In 2015, secured the Director’s Fortnight SACD Honour for My Golden Days.

Above: Arnaud Desplechin accepts his 2015 Best Director Cesar for My Golden Days.

LASZLO NEMES
Who? Mentored by the great Bela Tarr, the young Hungarian emerged triumphantly in 2015 with his debut feature, Son of Saul. The harrowing Holocaust drama scored 45 international film honours including the Best Foreign Film trophies at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Independent Spirit and National Board of Review (US) ceremonies, as well as festival prizes at Zagreb, Stockholm, Seattle, Sarajevo and Santa Barbara, to name just a few.
Cannes cred: Son of Saul earned five nominations at last years’ event, eventually winning the FIPRESCI Critics Award, the coveted Francois Chalais Prize (awarded to a work steeped in affirmative life value, named after the revered French journalist and film historian) and the Grand Jury prize.

VANESSA PARADIS
Who? The headline-grabbing French multi-hyphenate parlayed early career success as a ‘supermodel’ into the fields of pop-music and acting; following a Cesar-winning debut in Claude de Brisseau’s Noce blanche in 1989, her presence enlivened such works as Patrice Leconte’s The Girl on The Bridge, Pascal Chaumeil’s Heartbreaker and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Café de Flore (for which she won a Best Actress Genie). In 2011, she also supplied her vocal talent to the French-language version of Bibo Bergeron’s animated hit, A Monster in Paris.
Cannes cred: French industry status and A-list, red-carpet glamour.

MADS MIKKELSEN
Who? Mikkelsen’s status as arguably Europe’s #1 star began soon after his breakout role in Nicholas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy. A decade of hits followed, including Anders Thomas Jensen’s Flickering Lights, Lone Scherfig’s Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, Susanne Bier’s Open Hearts and After the Wedding, Ole Christian Madsen’s Flame & Citroen and Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair. Off continent, Mikkelsen made his mark in commercial properties like King Arthur, Casino Royale, The Three Musketeers and Clash of the Titans; his biggest Stateside hit has been the title role in the hit TV series, Hannibal.
Cannes cred: Won the 2012 Best Actor award for Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt; his starring turn in Arnaud Des Pallières’s Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas premiered in the 2013 Official Competition.

Above: Trailer for The Hunt, with Mads Mikkelsen.

KIRSTEN DUNST
Who? Her breakthrough role at age 12 as a bloodsucking seductress opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Neil Jordan’s 1994 hit Interview With a Vampire ensured Kirsten Dunst fame and notoriety in equal measure. Rarely out of the public spotlight, the New Jersey-native weathered the awkward teenage years with high-profile studio projects (Jumanji; Small Soldiers; Bring It On; Spiderman) and well-chosen indie projects (Wag the Dog; The Virgin Suicides; Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind). Recently, Dunst bounced back from critical duds (Wimbledown; Elizabethtown; an ill-advised third Spiderman film) with Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Walter Salles' On The Road, Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January and Jeff Nichol’s Midnight Special, as well as an acclaimed guest stint on the TV series Fargo.  
Cannes cred: The Best Actress Award at the 2011 festival for her performance in Lars von Trier's Melancholia.

KATAYOON SHAHABI
Who? The immeasurable contribution made by the 47 year-old Iranian to the international acceptance of her nation’s film output is remarkable. Having spent her formative years as a ‘film promoter’ with the industry support body Farabi Cinema Foundation, in 2001 she established Scheherazade Media International, an initiative to produce and distribute homegrown content that gave creative freedom to auteurs like Mohammad Rasoulof, Mania Akbari and Saman Salour. In 2012, launched Noori Pictures and found instant acclaim with Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s Tales and Vahid Jalilvand’s Wednesday May 9.
Cannes cred: In 2015, her production of Ida Panahandeh’s Nahid won the Un Certain Regard strand’s Avenir Prize honour.

VALERIA GOLINA
Who? After a run of critically acclaimed films in her homeland (Little Flames; A Tale of Love; Three Sisters), the Italian model-turned-actress followed the ‘European ingenue’ route paved by the likes of Nastassja Kinski and Joanna Pacula and headed for LA. Following her debut in Randall Kleiser’s Big Top Pee Wee, she found high-profile work in Barry Levinson’s Rain Man, Sean Penn’s The Indian Runner, Jim Abraham’s Hot Shots! and Mike Figgis’ Leaving Las Vegas. Golina never forgot her continental roots, returning home frequently to star in such works as Giacomo Campiotti’s Like Two Crocodiles, Emanuele Crialese’s Respiro and Silvio Soldini’s The Acrobat.
Cannes cred: Her directorial debut, Miele, screened in the 2013 Un Certain Regard selection and received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

Above: Valeria Golino discusses her film Miele at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, 2013

PICKING THE 2015 SYDNEY FILM PRIZE WINNER

Since its inauguration in 2008, the Sydney Film Prize has been awarded to works by such filmmakers as Steve McQueen (Hunger, 2008), Yorgos Lanthimos (Alps, 2012), Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, 2011) and Xavier Dolan (Heartbeats, 2010). On the eve of the 62^nd festival’s Opening Night bash, SCREEN-SPACE analyses the twelve Official Competition entries and gauges who is leading the race to the nation’s top film festival honour...

ARABIAN NIGHTS (Dir: Miguel Gomes / Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland; 383 mins / pictured, above)
What the Program says…: “Ambitious, indignant and filled with offbeat humour, Miguel Gomes’ extraordinary new film draws on the structure of ‘Arabian Nights’ to create a vivid portrait of Portugal today.”
The Buzz: Taking on all three volumes on Gomes’ six-hour contemporising of 1001 Nights may be this year’s greatest challenge, but it’s the kind of event screening that die-hard festivalists crave (see also Lav Diaz’s From What is Before). Indiewire called the epic “the most ambitious and entertaining film” at Cannes 2015.
Can it win? Lack of international festival kudos to date may hurt it; will be an enormous about-face to 2014, when the top prize went to The Dardennes Brothers minimalist drama, Two Days One Night. A front-runner.

BLACK SOULS (Dir: Francesco Munzi / Italy; 108 mins / pictured, right)
What the Program says…: “Likened to The Godfather and Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah, Black Souls is an enthralling story of a Calabrian criminal family and three brothers faced with a crisis with no easy resolution.”
The Buzz: Found lots of love in its homeland, where it took home four trophies from the 2014 Venice Film Festival. Variety noted that it uncovers “the feudal nature of honor” and “is set to be this year’s mafia pic.”
Can it win? Must transcend its genre roots if it is to find favour.

THE DAUGHTER (Dir: Simon Stone / Australia, 96 mins / pictured, right)
What the Program says…: “Simon Stone’s feature film debut is based on his adaptation of Ibsen’s play The Wild Duck. This heart-rending drama about two intertwined families stars Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider, Miranda Otto, Anna Torv, Odessa Young and Sam Neill.”
The Buzz: If the drama on-screen matches the journey that debutant director Stone undertook to get his reinterpretation of Ibsen’s play from the Belvoir Street Theatre stage to a competition slot at Sydney, it will grandly announce the arrival of a new filmmaking force. The prestige pic of the festival for local industry giant, Roadshow Films.
Can it win? Will be in the final mix if it delivers on expectations.

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL (Dir: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon / USA; 105 mins)
What the Program says…: “This wonderfully original film about friendship, creativity, mortality and the love of cinema was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.”
The Buzz: Hot. Sundance has traditionally had the inside running on the US indie scene’s ‘Next Big Thing.’ Reps a breakout film for respected genre auteur Gomez-Rejon (The Town That Dreaded Sundown, 2014; episodes of the TV hit, American Horror Story). Parodies of classic films that feature heavily in the plot (Pooping Tom, Senior Citizen Cane) will play well with festival audiences.
Can it win? Probably not ‘serious’ enough for the Jury’s top honour, but will score high in the audience-voted category. 

A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE (Dir: Roy Andersson / Sweden, Norway, France Germany; 100 mins)
What the Program says…: “Swedish cinematic visionary Roy Andersson brings his trademark absurdist humour and singular vision to this winner of the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion.”
The Buzz: If the title shouts ‘pretension’, the joke is that it’s meant to. Veteran Swedish director Andersson has made a subversive, absurdist gem that will feel revelatory to even the most jaded of cinephiles. A great deal has been made of the energy generated by septuagenarian George Miller in Mad Max Fury Road; at 72, Andersson proves the intellectual counterpoint with this remarkable work.
Can it win? The bolter. Won’t sit well with those that think film festivals foster an elitist view of cinema, but a win will be thoroughly deserved. 

SHERPA (Dir: Jennifer Peedom / Australia; 96 mins / pictured, right)
What the Program says…: “This visually stunning and commanding documentary, directed by Jennifer Peedom captures the 2014 Everest climbing season from the Sherpas’ point of view, including the tragic avalanche and its aftermath.”
The Buzz: Expect the greatest ever DVD extras package; as incredible as the onscreen drama is in Jennifer Peedom’s profound work, the behind-the-scenes details of her humanistic Himalayan odyssey are remarkable. This multi-tiered account of life and death on Mt Everest honours the memories of those lost to the mountain with an acute, heartfelt empathy.
Can it win? Since the inception of the Official Competition strand in 2008, neither an Australian film nor a documentary has taken the top prize. That may change in 2015.

STRANGERLAND (Dir: Kim Farrant / Australia; 112 mins)
What the Program says…: “Nicole Kidman makes a welcome return to Australian independent cinema in this striking film about the disappearance of her two teenaged children, and the cop (Hugo Weaving) who tries to solve the case.”
The Buzz: Mixed. High anticipation based upon the pairing of Nicole Kidman and Hugo Weaving, the directorial feature debut of theatre director Farrant and the promise of a ‘Wake in Fright/Picnic at Hanging Rock’-type outback odyssey earned it a Sundance spot, but critics were unimpressed. The Hollywood Reporter said, “The film remains stranded in a sort of genre no man's land.”
Can it win? Long shot. There is festival pedigree – Farrant had her short doco Naked on the Inside compete in 2007; Weaving headed the 2013 jury – but it may not be enough.

TALES (Dir: Rakshan Bani-Etemad / Iran; 88 mins)
What the Program says…: “The latest work from Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Iran’s leading female filmmaker, is a richly layered, episodic look at life in Tehran featuring a stellar ensemble cast. It won Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival.”
The Buzz: The Grand Dame of Iranian cinema, director Rakshan Bani-Etemad defied strict governmental controls to craft a series of seven shorts, that she then spliced together to create what may be her crowning achievement. Screenplay winner in Venice and the Grand Jury honoree at the 2014 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, her study of life in Tehran across the vast expanse of the city’s complex societal structure is a masterwork.
Can it win? The festival’s love affair with the region’s film culture will ensure Tales is a prime contender. Features actor Peiman Moaadi, star of the 2011 Film Prize recipient, A Separation.

TANGERINE (Dir: Sean Baker / USA; 88 mins)
What the Program says…: “Wickedly funny and refreshingly offbeat, Tangerine is a hilarious journey with two transgender sex workers through the lively streets of LA. The film is all the more remarkable given that it was filmed entirely on an iPhone 5s.”
The Buzz: Under festival director Nashen Moodley, The Sydney Film Festival has skewed determinedly younger in recent years. If the 2015 Jury is on board with that agenda, expect Tangerine to be high in contention. Shot entirely on an iPhone 5s, Sean Baker’s crowd-pleasing LA night-life romp, “teems with the sort of wry, deceptively offhand details that convey an authentically fascinating sense of place (Variety).”
Can it win? Sydney is not above awarding top honours to ultra-contemporary, left-of-centre works – Nicholas Winding Refn’s flouro-drenched shocker Only God Forgives won two years ago. May surprise… 

TEHRAN TAXI (Dir: Jafar Panahi / Iran; 82 mins / pictured, right)
What the Program says…: “Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, this is the third film made in secret by Jafar Panahi since a ban on filmmaking was imposed on him in Iran, and finds him at his most creative and entertaining.”
The Buzz: The very presence of Iranian great Jafar Panahi places Tehran Taxi amongst key contenders at any festival. Here, his incisive direction is coupled with his affable on-screen charm as he chaffeurs unsuspecting countrymen, engaging them in conversation on the state of their homeland.
Can it win? The Berlinale Golden Bear trophy suggests Panahi’s latest is more than just ‘Taxi Cab Confessions’ Iran style. The Sydney Film Festival has long supported his films; this, his first official nomination, may see him rewarded for his incredible body of work.

VICTORIA (Dir: Sebastian Schipper / Germany; 140 mins / pictured, right)
What the Program says…: “Breathtaking and audacious, this one-shot wonder is a spectacular Berlin heist thriller. Where single-shot films are usually bound to a narrow location, Victoria is expansive, boldly exploring the city over one crazy night.”
The Buzz: A high-voltage blast to the bank robbery genre, director Schipper’s single-shot thriller is a vast, often dizzying technical marvel (not too far removed from the equally inventive Run Lola Run, in which Schipper acted). The illusion of single-take cinema is a hot-button issue at present, thanks to Alejandro Inarritu’s Birdman); if Schipper’s vision expands on that offered by the Oscar winner, expect awards glory.
Can it win? Strong odds.

VINCENT (Dir: Thomas Salvador / France; 77 mins)
What the Program says…: “A young man takes on superhuman qualities when he comes into contact with water in this gentle, minimalist French superhero film with a difference, filled with playful humour, deep emotion and constant surprises.”
The Buzz: May be as close to that long-overdue bigscreen version as us closet Aquaman fans will ever get. Understated yet very funny, Salvador’s quirky character study has a disarmingly directionless charm that will win it many fans…
Can it win?…though probably not the Sydney Film Festival top honour.

Ticketing and venue information can be found at the Sydney Film Festival website.