With 22 films in the running this year, the juried competition 2024’s Cannes Film Festival arguably offers an early taste of this year’s Oscar contenders, as well as a peek at how industry insiders from around the globe view the work of their peers.
This year also marks the first time an American female director has led the competition’s jury: Barbie director Greta Gerwig is its president, so there’s an argument to be made that the winners of the juried competition, which were announced at an evening ceremony on Saturday, May 25, reflect where the influential artist sees the wind blowing.
As the jury emerged from its villa on Saturday, led by Gerwig, a red carpet commentator mused about the sometimes contentious deliberations of the voting body. “Sometimes they argue for hours,” one said. But this time, the 11-day festival’s closing ceremony started relatively on schedule, and announced the winners of the coveted awards.
In perhaps the nights biggest surprise, the best actress award was split between the four stars of Jacques Audiard‘s Emilia Perez, Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez. In other unexpected news, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, was singled out for a special jury prize for best screenplay, a likely nod to Iranian writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof’s escape from arrest in his home country after years spent criticizing its government. The night’s biggest prize, the Palme d’Or, went to the fest’s most buzzed about film: Anora, a New-York set movie from Sean Baker about a Brooklyn sex worker (Mikey Madison) who enters into a relationship with a client.
Here’s the full list of the winners of the 77th Cannes Film Festival:
Honorary Palme d’Or
George Lucas
Camera d’Or (Best First Film)
WINNER: Armand (Directed by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel)
Special mention: Mongrel (Directed by Wei Liang Chiang and You Qiao Yin)
Prix du scénario (Best Screenplay)
WINNER: Coralie Fargeat for The Substance
Prix Spécial est attribué (Special award for Best Screenplay)
WINNER: The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Written and directed by Mohammad Rasoulof)
Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director)
WINNER: Miguel Gomes for Grand Tour
Prix d’interprétation masculine (Best Actor)
WINNER: Jesse Plemons for Kinds Of Kindness
Prix d’interprétation féminine (Best Actress)
WINNERS: Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez
Prix du Jury (Jury Prize)
WINNER: Emilia Pérez (Directed by Jacques Audiard)
Grand Prix (Grand Prize)
WINNER: All We Imagine As Light (Directed by Payal Kapadia)
Palme d’Or (Golden Palm)
WINNER: Anora (Directed by Sean Baker)
Short Film Palme d’Or
WINNER: The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Directed by Nebojša Slijepčević)
Special mention: Bad For A Moment (Directed by Daniel Soares)