The 77th Cannes Film Festival concludes on Saturday, with Iranian and Ukrainian films emerging as top contenders for the coveted Palme d'Or.
Among the frontrunners are “It Was Just an Accident” by acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi, a darkly ironic take on political imprisonment, and Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa’s “Two Prosecutors”, a chilling study of authoritarianism, reports AFP.
The closing day also brought praise for “Young Mothers” by Belgium’s Dardenne brothers, earning a rare five-star review from The Guardian.
Other strong contenders include Germany’s “Sound of Falling”, a generational tale led by female characters, and “The Secret Agent”, a Brazilian drama set in the 1970s. Richard Linklater’s tribute to Jean-Luc Godard, “Nouvelle Vague”, proved a crowd-pleaser.
Amid the glamour, political discourse was ever-present. U.S. director Todd Haynes and actor Pedro Pascal openly criticized President Donald Trump, while over 900 festival guests, including Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, signed a letter condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza as "genocide."
As awards roll in, notable wins include the first Chechen film at Cannes, which claimed best documentary, and “The Six Billion Dollar Man”, a biopic on Julian Assange, which earned a special jury prize. In the Un Certain Regard section, Chile’s Diego Cespedes won top honors for “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo”, set in a 1980s desert town inhabited by trans women.
French filmmaker Hafsia Herzi received the Queer Palm for “The Last One”, a poignant story of a young lesbian Muslim in Paris, while Thailand’s Useful Ghost took the top Critics’ Week prize with its bold, political LGBTQ narrative.
On a lighter note, Panda, the canine star of Icelandic film “The Love That Remains”, walked away with the Palm Dog award for best dog performance.
As the festival draws to a close, all eyes are on the jury, led by Juliette Binoche, to reveal the winner from the 22 films in competition.
Bd-pratidin English/FNC
