Immigration drama Dheepan was crowned the winner of the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film, directed by the acclaimed A Prophet and Rust and Bone filmmaker Jacques Audiard, was deemed an outsider for the big prize. Pre-announcement favourite and critical darling Son of Saul – a powerful, Auschwitz-set drama from debutant László Nemes – had to settle for the Grand Prix, the de facto runner-up prize.
The jury was led by Joel and Ethan Coen, with jurors including trailblazing young auteur Xavier Dolan (Mommy), as well as actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Sienna Miller.
Other big winners were the star-studded, off-beat drama The Lobster, from Dogtooth and Alps director Yorgos Lanthimos, which won the Jury Prize. Best Director went to Hou Hsiao-hsien for his martial-arts film The Assassin, which was another hot favourite for the Palme.
The Best Actress prize was shared between Emmanuelle Bercot for My King and U.S. actress Rooney Mara, who pipped her co-star Cate Blanchett to the post for Todd Haynes’ relationship drama Carol. Vincent Lindon won Best Actor for The Measure of a Man.
Dheepan joins previous unusual winners of recent years like Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Blue Is the Warmest Colour and Winter Sleep.
