Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's 196-minute epic Winter Sleep won the Palme d'Or for best film at the Cannes Film Festival.
The saga of a former actor who runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife, with whom he has a stormy relationship, and his recently-divorced sister, it was described by some critics as a challenge for audiences with a minimal narrative driven by political and intellectual debates.
The director dedicated the award to the “ young people of Turkey and to those who lost their lives during the year.”
David Gulpilil took the best actor prize for Rolf de Heer’s Charlie’s Country in the Un Certain Regard section.
Italian-German director Alice Rohrwacher's The Wonders, the tender story of a young woman struggling against her alienating environment, won the grand jury prize.
Bennett Miller was named best director for Foxcatcher, which stars Channing Tatum and Steve Carell in a drama about Olympic gold medal winning wrestler Mark Schultz who is invited by wealthy heir John du Pont to move on to the du Pont estate and help form a team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Timothy Spall took the best actor trophy for playing British painter J.M.W. Turner in Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner.
Julianne Moore was crowned best actress for her performance as a vindictive, insecure Hollywood has-been in David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars.
The jury chaired by Jane Campion awarded the jury prize jointly to 25-year-old Canadian Xavier Dolan for Mommy, which features Anne Dorval as a feisty woman grappling with a violent, bipolar son, and 83-year-old Jean-Luc Godard’s 3D experimental feature Goodbye to Language.
Campion said, “Everyone was on the same level, we were all very affected. We didn't take into account the prize factor, who had or hadn't already won. We liked everything, I would have liked to give out even more awards.
"When I read the synopsis of Winter Sleep and saw how long it was, I was a bit scared. But the film has such a wonderful pace that I was captivated. It's a very masterful, sophisticated and intelligent film. As for The Wonders, we really liked the character of the young girl, who was just like life itself, as she's so real. This film has many layers and builds up its own world.”
Fellow juror Gael Garcia Bernal remarked, "All of the films have a complexity: social, political, sexual… It's called humanity. Nevertheless, we talked about the film, always the film. I felt happier every day. It reminded me of my youth, at the Mexico cinematheque."
FEATURE FILMS
Palme d'or
WINTER SLEEP by Nuri Bilge CEYLAN
Grand Prix
LE MERAVIGLIE (The Wonders) by Alice ROHRWACHER
Best Director Award
Bennett MILLER for FOXCATCHER
Jury Prize
MOMMY by Xavier DOLAN
ADIEU AU LANGAGE (Goodbye to language) by Jean-Luc GODARD
Best Screenplay Award
Andrey ZVYAGINTSEV and Oleg NEGIN for LEVIATHAN
Best Actress Award
Julianne MOORE in MAPS TO THE STARS by David CRONENBERG
Best Actor Award
Timothy SPALL in MR. TURNER by Mike LEIGH
SHORT FILMS
Palme d'or
LEIDI by Simón MESA SOTO
Special Mention –
AÏSSA by Clément TREHIN-LALANNE
JA VI ELSKER (Yes we love) by Hallvar WITZØ
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Prize
FEHÉR ISTEN by Kornél Mundruczó
Jury Prize
TURIST by Ruben Östlund
Un Certain Regard Special Prize
THE SALT OF THE EARTH by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Ensemble Prize
PARTY GIRL by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis
Best Actor Award
David Gulpilil in CHARLIE’S COUNTRY by Rolf de Heer
CAMÉRA D’OR
PARTY GIRL by Marie AMACHOUKELI, Claire BURGER, Samuel THEIS presented in the Un Certain Regard Selection
CINÉFONDATION
First Prize
SKUNK by Annie Silverstein
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Second Prize
OH LUCY! by Atsuko Hirayanagi
NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Singapore
Joint Third Prize
LIEVITO MADRE by Fulvio Risuleo
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy
THE BIGGER PICTURE by Daisy Jacobs
National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
The Jury of the CST has awarded the VULCAN AWARD OF THE TECHNICAL ARTIST to:
Dick POPE, director of photography, for bringing to light the works of Turner in the movie MR. TURNER by Mike LEIGH