French director Julia Ducournau has won the prestigious Cannes Palme d’Or making her the second woman ever to take out the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival
Julia Ducournau won the Palme d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for her unconventional film Titane. The only other woman to win the prize was New Zealand director Jane Campion in 1993 for The Piano.
When it came time for Ducournau, 37, to accept her prize, she described watching the Cannes awards each year as a child. ”At that time, I was sure that all the films awarded must have been perfect because they were on the stage. And tonight, I’m on that same stage, but I know my film is not perfect — but I think no film is perfect in the eyes of the person who made it. You could even say mine is monstrous.”
Titane tells the story of a young woman who survives a car crash as a child and goes on to have a peculiar relationship with cars in adulthood
WINNERS OF THE 2021 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Palme d’Or: “Titane”
Grand Prix: (tie) “A Hero” and “Compartment No. 6”
Jury Prize: (tie): “Ahed’s Knee” and “Memoria”
Best Actress: Renate Reinsve, “The Worst Person in the World”
Best Actor: Caleb Landry Jones, “Nitram”
Best Director: Leos Carax, “Annette”
Best Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
Camera d’Or: “Murina” by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Short Film Palme d’Or: Tian Xia Wu Ya by Tang Yi
Special Jury Mention for Short Film: “Ceu de Agosto” by Jasmin Tenucci