Surprisingly, against all predictions, the Palme d’Or of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival goes to the comedy ‘Anora’ by Sean Baker. The jury chaired by Greta Gerwig (director of ‘Barbie’) awarded the award for best film to the entertaining comedy by the American director, screenwriter, editor and film producer active in independent cinema.
‘Anora’ is the gritty and often hilarious story of Ani, a New York stripper and the young son of a Russian oligarch. The two get married on a whim in Las Vegas, arousing the fury of the latter’s relatives. The film takes a comedic turn when a trio of mobsters arrive at the newlyweds’ home. According to Sean Baker, “we are all fascinated” by sex work because it happens “right under our noses, whether we realize it or not.” “It can be explored endlessly,” said the director, who is passionate about flawed characters who face the same problems as everyone else. “I can’t just tell the story of a prostitute with a big heart,” he explained.
Four awards for best actress
The jury awarded the prize for best actress at the Cannes festival to four performers with equal merit: Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Selena Gomez all for the film ‘Emilia Perez’ by Jacques Audillard. Karla Sofia Gascon, who began gender transition at the age of 46, is the revelation of this film in which she plays the main role, that of a drug trafficker who feels deeply female and changes gender. She is the first transgender actress to win this award.
Plemons best actor
American Jesse Plemons received the best actor award at Cannes for his role in “Kinds of Kindness” by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. He was not present on stage to receive the award. In the film, Jesse Plemons, 36, is manipulated by a devious Willem Dafoe: he plays an ordinary executive whose daily routine goes up in smoke when his charismatic boss asks him to carry out an irreparable act.
Special award to Rasoulof, who fled Iran
The 51-year-old Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof received the Special Jury Prize at Cannes for his film ‘The Seeds of the Wild Fig’, after managing to escape clandestinely from the ayatollaj regime. The award is a symbol of support for Iranian artists who are victims of repression and a consecration for a director who defied censorship for decades before resigning himself to exile.
“Allow me to spare a thought for all the members of my team who are not with me to celebrate this award. My director of photography, many of the technicians, who are under pressure. My heart goes out to them above all,” said Mohammad Rasoulof receiving the award. “My people live every day under a regime that has taken them hostage”, continued the director, who wanted to “pay homage to all the young women whose boundless courage made this film possible”.
Filmed clandestinely, ‘The Seeds of the Wild Fig Tree’ is a paranoid thriller about an Iranian investigator and his family in the midst of a crackdown on anti-regime protests. The director interwoven his film with a wealth of home and social media footage of student demonstrations, women burning headscarves in public and police brutality. The film, which is inspired by Rasoulof’s prison experience, is a political act against the dictatorship and pays homage to the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.
Born in 1972 in the southwestern city of Shiraz, Mohammad Rasoulof has long been targeted by the authorities, who convicted him of “propaganda against the regime”, subjected him to numerous interrogations and regularly deprived him of freedom of movement and of work.
Palme d’Onore to Lucas
The closing ceremony of the 77th began with the awarding of the Palme d’Honneur to the director of “Star Wars”, George Lucas, the second after the one awarded at the opening to Meryl Streep.