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French Director Julia Ducournau Wins The 2021 Cannes Palme d’Or

French director Julia Ducournau

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

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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.

New Zealand’s Most Famous Movie The Piano by Jane Campion

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

Robyn Foyster: Robyn Foyster is a multi-award-winning journalist, media executive, and the owner and publisher of The Carousel, alongside the Women Love Network (which includes Women Love Wellness, Women Love Travel, and Women Love Tech). At the forefront of digital lifestyle and tech publishing, Robyn was named the 2025 Winner of the Samsung IT Journalism Award for Best Corporate Content and is a 2026 Lizzies Finalist. Voted one of B&T’s 30 Most Powerful Women In Media, she previously served as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Australia’s three biggest flagship magazines—The Australian Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, and New Idea—and was a senior executive at the Seven Network. A sought-after speaker and an eight-year judge for the Telstra Business Awards, Robyn remains dedicated to championing women's voices across lifestyle, wellness, and technology.