Catherine Deneuve Closes the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
CANNES, France — All eyes were on Catherine Deneuve Saturday night, who was in Cannes to present the famous Palme d’Or and mark the end of the 72nd Cannes film festival.
Deneuve took to the stage in an emerald green sequinned maxi dress by Celine, talking about the joy of attending “the most beautiful festival in the world” and asking this year’s jury president Alexander Gonzalez Iñarritu to name the winner.
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This year’s big winner was director Bong Joon-Ho, for his politically-charged dark comedy “Parasite.”
“There was a great mix of iconic filmmakers, great masters, veterans and new voices many of them mixing genres and speaking loudly and creatively about what’s going on in the world today,” said Gonzalez Iñarritu. “That was something very striking and inspiring for all of us. At the times we are living, democracy is disappearing, but I assure you this jury was absolutely democratic and the decision to name the Palme d’Or was absolutely unanimous.”
Also part of this year’s jury were Elle Fanning, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, Senegalese actress and filmmaker Maimouna N’Diaye and Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher.
Fanning continued to revel in her love for romantic prom-style dresses, embroideries and tulle, walking the red carpet in a white Reem Acra dress and matching cape featuring embroidered bows.
She kept the fashion stakes high at an otherwise low-key event — other big names making fashion headlines throughout the festival, including the likes of Tilda Swinton, Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez and Chloe Sevigny, were visibly absent from the closing ceremony.
Neither Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” nor Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” in which these stars take part, were among this year’s winners.
Other winners included British up-and-coming actress Emily Beecham for her performance in “Little Joe” and Antonio Banderas, who got the award for best male performance for his work in Pedro Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical “Pain and Glory.”
“It took 40 years to get here. I met Pedro 40 years ago, we’ve made eight movies together, I love him, I respect him, he is my mentor, so of course this award has to be dedicated to him,” said Banderas. “People think we live on a red carpet, but that’s not how it is. There’s a lot of suffering and pain in being an actor and also some nights of glory. This is my night of glory.”
Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables” – which Swinton had also pointed out as an impressive piece of work, given this is Ly’s first feature film – was given the Jury Prize, alongside Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ “Bacurau.” The Grand Prix was given to French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop for her debut feature, “Atlantics.” Diop, is the first black female filmmaker in competition and caught the attention of the jury for her dramatic portrayal of Europe’s refugee crisis through the eyes of a woman abandoned by the man she loves.
More From 2019 Cannes Film Festival:
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Video: Cannes Film Festival 2019: Tilda Swinton Talks Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Dead Don’t Die’
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