Many women-directed gems were snubbed, in favor of a story about a sex worker written and directed by a male filmmaker.

As I sat down to write up a short piece about the winners of this edition of the Festival de Cannes, I received Hanif Kureishi’s newsletter. Ever since his accident in Rome, in December of 2022, the Oscar nominated scriptwriter and author has been paralyzed from the neck down. He’s also been sending out regular updates that are always filled with his usual humor and sense of life — something I look forward to reading week after week.

In his latest newsletter, titled “Jury Duty,” the British born Pakistani writer reminisced about his two stints as a jury member, in Venice in 1992 and in Cannes, in 2009. On both occasions, the writer was basically told what to pick as winners, in Venice by then festival director Gillo Pontecorvo, and on the Croisette by jury president Isabelle Huppert, whose friendship with Michael Hanneke seemed to guarantee that The White Ribbon would walk away with the Palme d’or.

I am only quoting Kureishi, you can find the piece by clicking on the previous text and would never dare to say something as controversial as this myself. But he does make an interesting point. How much of what is decided about prizes, both in festivals and during award season, is really a question of validity and worth.

Personally, I believe that Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, Karim Aïnouz’s Motel Destino and Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond, along with Magnus von Horn’s The Girl with the Needle deserved to win something. And don’t even get me started on the Caméra d'or for best first film…

But, in the end, certain formulaic cinematic creations are given awards. Or maybe it’s just films I don’t desire to watch… Do they win because they are the best, or because they fulfill the trends of the moment? Or because those handing out the awards are friends with the filmmakers? As a funny aside, in the days preceding the awards ceremony, a colleague who writes for a major trade raved fantastic about Anora, which only solidified my own position in disliking it. And pointed to the natural Palme d’or winner, one that satisfies other palates, just not mine.

Personally, I’m always going to like a film which will be called a masterpiece in a few years, over something that feels right for right now and perhaps, never again. I also watch a lot of mixed media, read a lot, spend a lot of time with my own thoughts and try to live life. I don’t always think film buffs get around to the latter…

Here is the list of all the award winners, including a well-deserved win in Un Certain Regard for Best Director ex-aequo for Rungano Nyoni whose fantastical On Becoming a Guinea Fowl conquered my heart. She received the award alongside another favorite filmmaker of mine, Roberto Minervini who won for The Damned.

Palme d'or Features

ANORA
Sean Baker

Grand Prix

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
Payal Kapadia

Jury Prize

EMILIA PÉREZ
Jacques Audiard

Best Director

MIGUEL GOMES
for Grand Tour

Special Award

MOHAMMAD RASOULOF
for The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Performance by an Actor

JESSE PLEMONS
in Kinds of Kindness directed by Yórgos Lánthimos

Best Performance by an Actress

ADRIANA PAZ
in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

ZOE SALDAÑA
in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN
in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

SELENA GOMEZ
in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

Best Screenplay

THE SUBSTANCE
Coralie Fargeat

Palme d'or Short Films

THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT
Nebojša Slijepčević

Special Mention

BAD FOR A MOMENT
Daniel Soares

Un Certain Regard Prize

BLACK DOG
by Guan Hu

Jury Prize

L'HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE
by Boris Lojkine

Best Director Prize ex-aequo

ROBERTO MINERVINI
for The Damned

RUNGANO NYONI
for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Best Performance by an Actress

ANASUYA SENGUPTA
in The Shameless

Best Performance by an Actor

ABOU SANGARÉ
in L’Histoire de Souleymane

Youth Award

HOLY COW
by Louise Courvoisier

1st Film Special Mention

NORAH
by Tawfik Alzaidi

Caméra d'or First Film

ARMAND
Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
Un Certain Regard

Special Mention

MONGREL
Wei Liang Chiang & You Qiao Yin

First Prize La Cinef

SUNFLOWERS WERE THE FIRST ONES TO KNOW… 
Chidananda S Naik

Joint Second Prize

OUT THE WINDOW THROUGH THE WALL
Asya Segalovich

THE CHAOS SHE LEFT BEHIND
Nikos Kolioukos

Third Prize

BUNNYHOOD 
Mansi Maheshwari

The Higher Technical Commission for Sound and Images 

The 2024 jury of the CST Artist-Technician prize awarded the prize to Daria d'Antonio, cinematographer on Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope. Daria d'Antonio's images give Parthenope perfect cinematography with grace and beauty.

The 2024 jury of the CST Young technician Prize is proud to award this year's prize to Evgenia Alexandrova, cinematographer on Noémie Merlant's The Balconettes, for the quality of her photography, with its saturated colors and assertive lighting direction that transports us from comedy to genre film.

Image courtesy of the Festival de Cannes, used with permission.