Cannes top prize goes to Sean Baker film 'Anora'
US director Sean Baker won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for "Anora," beating out 21 other films.
The jury, led by US filmmaker Greta Gerwig, who directed "Barbie," awarded the prestigious prize to Baker for his story about a striptease dancer in Brooklyn named Ani who meets an oligarch's son, who marries her to the great displeasure of his parents. They do everything in their power to undo the relationship.
The fast-paced film is a mixture of comedy and drama and impressed audiences with unexpected twists and lots of humour.
"This literally has been my singular goal as a filmmaker for the past 30 years," Baker said during his acceptance speech.
"I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my life," he joked.
"But I do know that I will continue to fight for cinema because right now as film-makers we have to keep cinema alive."
Watching a film at home, "while scrolling through your phone and checking emails and half-paying attention is just not the way," Baker said.
"Watching a film with others in a movie theatre is one of the great communal experiences. We share laughter, sorrow, anger, fear and hopefully have a catharsis with our friends and strangers. So I say the future of cinema is where it started, in a movie theatre."
Baker rose to prominence with his 2015 indie comedy "Tangerine," which was shot entirely on iPhones.
The Grand Prix, the festival's second most important award, went to "All We Imagine as Light" by Indian director Payal Kapadia. Frenchman Jacques Audiard received the Jury Prize for his musical "Emilia Pérez."
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who left Iran after being sentenced to several years in prison, was honoured with a Special Jury Prize.
Born in 1972, the filmmaker recently fled Iran by crossing a mountainous borderland on foot before securing shelter in Germany, where his daughter is studying medicine.
It was unclear for a long time whether he would come to the film festival.
His film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" tells the story of the protests in Iran following the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022. The situation in the country is told through the tensions in a family.
The prize for best actress was shared by four women this year: It went to actresses Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz for their roles in "Emilia Pérez."
Jesse Plemons was honoured as Best Actor for his role in "Kinds of Kindness" by Yorgos Lanthimos, the director of last year's "Poor Things."
Miguel Gomes won the award for best director for "Grand Tour." Coralie Fargeat was honoured for best screenplay with "The Substance."
