Sean Baker wins the Palme d’Or, discover the full list of winners

American director Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival on Saturday evening for his film “Anora”. It is a New York thriller that moves from the slums to the luxury villas of Russian oligarchs, and augurs a revival of American independent cinema.

Generational transition in Cannes: the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas, received an honorary prize before presenting the Palme d’Or to a representative of the new American independent cinema, Sean Baker, who made a plea for cinema in theaters. “We have to fight to make films that come out in theaters. The world needs to remember that watching a movie on your cell phone or at home is not the (correct) way to watch movies,” he said. said Sean Baker upon receiving his award.

“In theaters, we share sadness, fear, laughter,” he added on a stage at the Palais des Festivals where two Hollywood legends had just passed the baton: Francis Ford. Coppola, finally left empty-handed with Megalopolisand George Lucas, to whom he came to present his honorary Palme d’Or.

The film “Anora” effectively rewinds the classics of American cinema

Sean Baker, who succeeds Justine Triet and her film Anatomy of a fall, is a lover of marginalized characters, overflowing with humanity, and often shoots with beginner or amateur actors. Subverting the myths of Cinderella or Pretty Woman, Anora moves from the slums of New York to the luxury villas of Russian oligarchs, following the relationship between a young stripper Anora and the son of a billionaire.

Mafioso, trips to the Russian-speaking community of Coney Island, night races in New York, henchman with the false air of Robert De Niro, the 2h18 film effectively rewinds the classics of American cinema and depicts the other side of the American dream.

Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof leaves with a special prize

Another notable decision by Greta Gerwig’s jury, which also included actors Omar Sy, Lily Gladstone and Eva Green, was the collective prize awarded to the actresses in Jacques Audiard’s musical, Emilia Perez. The prize will be a landmark, since in addition to Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Adriana Paz, a transgender actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, is recognized for the first time. The 52-year-old Spaniard, who began her gender transition at 46, is the revelation of this film in which she plays the main role, that of a drug trafficker who feels deeply female and changes gender.

Karla Sofía Gascón dedicated her prize to “all trans people who suffer”. “I want these people to believe like in ‘Emilia Perez’ that it is always possible to improve.” Big favorite, the Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof finally leaves with a special prize for The seeds of the wild fig treefilmed clandestinely.

The prize is a symbol for Iranian artists victims of repression, and a consecration for a director who defied censorship for decades before resolving into exile, a few days before the Festival. He made his first public appearance in Cannes since then. “Allow me to spare a thought for all the members of my team who are not with me to celebrate this award. My cinematographer, many technicians, who are under pressure. My heart is with them above all,” said declared Mohammad Rasoulof.

Young Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia wins the Grand Prize

In the rest of the prize list, the American actor Jesse Plemons received the male performance prize for his performance in the latest Yorgos Lanthimos, and the young Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, representative of a 7th art in the shadow of Bollywood, received the Grand Prix. All we imagine as light was the first Indian film in competition in 30 years. Another director won an award: Frenchwoman Coralie Fargeat, awarded for her second feature film The Substancean ultra-gory feminist film with Demi Moore, which rocked the Croisette.

The biggest disappointments of this festival are the legends of New Hollywood, whose works, in their twilight years, left empty-handed. This is the case of Francis Ford Coppola, who was vying for a third Palme d’Or at the age of 85. And Paul Schrader, first known as a screenwriter for Martin Scorsese before becoming an established filmmaker, whose film Oh, Canada!, with Richard Gere as a dying old man, disappointed. Hollywood was no less celebrating throughout this edition, also marked by the out-of-competition presentation of films by Kevin Costner and Furiosaderived from Mad Max.