CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2010 PALME d’OR WINNERS JULIETTE BINOCHE, JAVIER BARDEM, THAI FILM UNCLE BOONMEE0 Comments

The Cannes Film Festival closing night ceremony included a Thai film winning the coveted Palme d’OR. French actress Juliette Binoche  and Spanish actor Javier Bardem, also won the top prize. Congrats to all of the winners! Here is a complete list of  Cannes Film Festival Winners.

CANNES, France — Awards presented Sunday at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, chosen by a jury headed by U.S. director Tim Burton:

_Palme d’Or (Golden Palm): “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)

_Grand Prize: “Of Gods and Men” by Xavier Beauvois (France)

_Jury Prize: “A Screaming Man” by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad)

_Best Director: Mathieu Amalric for “On Tour” (France)

_Best Actor: Javier Bardem, “Biutiful” (Mexico) and Elio Germano, “La Nostra Vita” (Italy)

_Best Actress: Juliette Binoche, “Certified Copy” (Iran)

_Best Screenplay: Lee Chang-Dong, “Poetry” (Korea)

_Camera d’Or (first-time director): “Ano Bisiesto” by Michael Rowe (Mexico)

_Best short film: “Chienne d’Histoire,” by Serge Avedikian (France) [AP]
Thai film Uncle Boonmee is Cannes winner

The Cannes Film Festival is a huge deal in France—comparable to what the Oscars are in the United States. An estimated 30,000 media, publicists, other festival directors, and a slew of support staff double the size of the small coastal town. All week, news programs have been laced with Cannes reports and last night there were at least three different hour-long programs recapping the Festival. The closing-night ceremony is televised nationwide and thousands gather outside the Palace (anywhere else the bunker would be called a convention center) to catch a glimpse of the stars. (You can get a idea of who will win the awards by looking at who is still around by then, since participants are encouraged to stay in the area.)

This year’s M.C. was Kristin Scott Thomas and she, like the entire program, was smoother than any in years. She first introduced the Canadian director and Cannes veteran Atom Egoyan, president of short films jury, who gave the Prix du Jury (second place) to Frida Kempff for her Bathing Micky and then the Palme d’Or to Serge Avedikian for his animated film Barking Island.

The next on stage was Gael Garcia Bernal, president of the jury for the Camera d’Or, the award given for best first feature among the films in competition and the twenty-plus films in the sidebar programs such as Un Certain Regard. This year the pool consisted of 24 films and Bernal, with his megawatt smile, assured the audience that “the future of cinema is bright” before presenting the award to Michael Rowe for his film Año Bisiesto.

Finally, it was time for the Palme d’Or competition’s jury to file on stage. First came the president, director Tim Burton, looking beyond casual with his unshaven face, a loose fitting black suit and tie (contrasting with the tuxedos and bow ties of most of the audience), gray socks and comfortable shoes. Even that appeared too much for Burton, who kept running his fingers under his collar as if to loosen it.

He took the microphone to say he hadn’t realized Cannes would be so full of “family films. Not in the Disney sense,” but in terms of so many movies that focused on investigating domestic lives and relationships. An apt point, but one that went over the heads of the predominantly French audience, more used to character-driven films than we Americans with our super heroes and computer-generated explosions. With that, Burton introduced the group “who has become my new family,” the other jurors: Benicio del Toro, Spanish director Victor Erice, Indian director and actor Shekhar Kapur, and Italy’s director of the National Museum of Cinema, Alberto Barbera. France was represented by the composer Alexander Desplat and the writer and director Emmanuel Carrere, while the only two women were actresses: the British Kate Beckinsale and the Italian Giovanna Mezzogiorno.

The ceremony began in earnest as various presenters announced each category, saying a few words and then turning the mic over to Burton to announce the winners. [VANITY FAIR]

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