After countless star-studded premieres and endless standing ovations, the Cannes Film Festival came to a close this weekend. Justine Triet emerged as its biggest winner and made history as the third female director to win Palme d’Or with her latest film Anatomy of a Fall.
Triet’s latest directorial effort stars Sandra Hüller as the German writer whose life turns upside down after her husband is found dead in the snow below their chalet in the Alps. She becomes the main suspect in his murder and must go the extra mile to prove her innocence in a gripping trial.
Triet’s win in Cannes is quite historic because she’s only the third woman in the event’s 76-year history to win Palme d’Or, joining the exclusive company of Jane Campion and Julia Ducournau. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated her award to all the young directors working today, saying that “we must give them the space” to make mistakes and start again.
The list of major winners in Cannes this year also included Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (Grand Prix) and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves (Jury Prize), but some of the festival’s most talked-about projects premiered out of competition. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon had its world premiere in Cannes, while the HBO series The Idol emerged as one of the festival’s most controversial projects.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT THE 2023 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL:
Palme d’Or
Anatomy of a Fall, dir: Justine Triet
Grand Prize
The Zone of Interest, dir: Jonathan Glazer
Best Director
Tranh Anh Hung, The Pot-au-Feu
Jury Prize
Fallen Leaves, dir: Aki Kaurismaki
Best Screenplay
Yuji Sakamato, Monster
Best Actress
Merve Dizdar, About Dry Grasses
Best Actor
Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days
Camera d’Or
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, dir: Thien An Pham
Short Film Palme d’Or
27, dir: Flóra Anna Buda
Special Mention:
Far, dir: Gunnur Martinsdottir Schluter