‘Imago' Wins L'Oeil d'Or Prize For Top Documentary At Cannes; Julian Assange Film Wins Special Jury Prize For l'Oeil d'Or 10th Anniversary
Both directors were on hand for the announcement at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.
More from Deadline
Thailand's Engfa Waraha & Dream Thanika Jenjesda Want 'Lady Bee' To Re-Define The Female Gaze In Thai Filmmaking - Cannes Studio
Cannes Film Festival 2025: Read All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews
Bi Gan's 'Resurrection' Hits Cannes With 7-Minute Ovation At World Premiere
'I didn't expect at all,' Pitsaev told Deadline after receiving the award. He said it might prove challenging to get the metal Golden Eye trophy through airport security. 'I hope they will not see it as a weapon. I mean, you can hurt someone with that.'
Assange joined Jarecki at today's announcement. He has been a free man for only a year, after reaching a deal with U.S. authorities that saw him plead guilty to a single count of violating the Espionage Act. Assange appeared to become emotional as he spoke at the L'Oeil d'or ceremony. He said his last previous public comment was made at the Parliamentary Assembly of Europe, which declared him to have been persecuted as a political prisoner.
'Now is a time of great erosion of norms, coming from the conflict in Ukraine,' he said, 'and especially from the assault on the people in Gaza, the massacre of people in Gaza and also in the West Bank.' He suggested the U.S. was absent in terms of supporting human rights and that Europe needed to fill the void. 'There doesn't appear to be any other grouping of countries or major power on the only planet we live in that will stand, will fight for those norms that we all realized were important after all.'
Jarecki told Deadline he viewed the awarding of the L'Oeil d'or Special Jury Prize to his film as consistent with a politically firm stand taken by the festival.
'I do think this is a seismic development within the Cannes Film Festival, my movie aside,' he noted. 'Just the fact that you can feel the festival leaning into documentary much more than ever before, leaning into the serious issues that are flying around the world right now. If you look at what showed at the festival this year, the dedication of the festival to Fatima [Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist killed in Gaza], there's extremely important stuff going on. And I think the way the psyche of the festival has shifted, we need that… We need more and more people to step up and get concerned and get engaged. And I came here not knowing what to expect of that, of how a festival of poetry and fantasy and romance would be dealing with a modern era where we all have such grave concerns and they're leaning into it.'
Pitsaev's film earlier won the Jury Prize at Critics Week, the Cannes sidebar. His film is set in a remote area of Georgia, a few kilometers from the border with Chechnya.
'When Déni inherits a small patch of land in the wild, beautiful valley of Pankissi, he sees a chance to finally build the house in the trees that he's dreamed of since he was a boy,' reads a synopsis of the film. 'But nothing in the rugged Caucasus is ever simple. Returning to a village just across the Chechen border where he was born – a place he barely knows – Déni stirs up old feuds, buried family dramas, and above all, the question everyone keeps asking: when, and with whom, is he finally going to get married?'
In an interview in Cannes on Thursday, Pitsaev told us he came to Cannes not knowing how the film would be received.
'For the premiere, I felt a little bit naked in front of the public,' Pitsaev commented. 'It's so intimate. And when I was doing the film and especially in editing, it was difficult for me to watch myself and [decide] what to take out, what not to put in a film.'
The L'Oeil d'or prize comes with a €5,000 award. Eligible films can premiere in Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings and Special Screenings, Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week, or the ACID sidebar. Julie Gayet, French actress and producer, served as Jury President for the L'Oeil d'or prize. Her fellow jurors included Chilean filmmaker Carmen Castillo; Frédéric Maire, Swiss director of the Cinémathèque suisse; Juliette Favreul Renaud, French producer, and Marc Zinga, a Congolese-Belgian actor.
The L'Oeil d'or is a relatively new award in the Cannes pantheon, added only in 2015. It was created by SCAM, France's Société Civile des Auteurs Multimédia. Previous winners of the award include documentaries that went on to earn Oscar nominations: Four Daughters, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania; Faces Places, directed by Agnès Varda and JR; For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, and All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen.
Best of Deadline
'The Last of Us' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
'The Last Of Us': Differences Between HBO Series & Video Game Across Seasons 1 And 2
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Cosmopolitan
3 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
Will Cate Blanchett Star in a ‘Squid Game' US Spin-Off?
Ever since that shocking Squid Game season 3 ending, fans have been talking about the possibility of a US spin-off series starring Cate Blanchett (and helmed by David Fincher). And though Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk previously revealed to Variety that Cate's cameo in the series finale was 'not related' to the rumored spin-off, the actress is now weighing in on her future with the franchise. When asked about starring in an English-language spin-off or sequel series, Cate told Variety she is 'wildly open to anything,' adding, 'I mean, I'd love to work with David [Fincher] again. It's been ages. But no, I don't know anything more than you do. I'm not being coy. I really don't.' Way back in October 2024—long before the Squid Game series finale aired—Deadline reported that a brand-new spin-off was being developed for Netflix with David Fincher at the helm of the project. However, little else has been heard about the project since in June 2025, Hwang Dong-hyuk said he hadn't 'heard officially from Netflix about David Fincher creating a Squid Game.' But fret not, because the Squid Game creator is open to the possibly of a spin-off series. As he told Entertainment Weekly, 'I'm not trying to say that I'm going to close the door to spin-offs or sequels altogether because they say never say never.' And from the sound of it, Cate is down as chances are, even if she did know anything about a sequel series, she wouldn't be allowed to share any deets. While speaking about her Squid Game cameo with Variety (which she apparently landed 'out of the blue'), Cate noted how everything she learned about her role 'was on a need-to-know basis.' As she explained, 'I got a couple of storyboards. I had to [learn to] play the game very quickly. I had to practice and practice. I knew there were four or five setups that they were going to do, and I knew what they needed from every shot, and then I was given the sides. But it was one of the more mysterious jobs.'
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Founder of Rolex luxury watch empire may have been a Nazi spy: report
Secret British intelligence files have revealed that MI5 once suspected the German-born founder of the iconic Rolex luxury watch empire of holding strong Nazi sympathies and possibly acting as a spy during the Second World War. The declassified records, held at the National Archives, describe Hans Wilsdorf as 'most objectionable' and allege he may have used his position to spread propaganda for Adolf Hitler's regime, according to The Telegraph. The documents, written between 1941 and 1943 and many stamped with 'Box 500' — a wartime nickname for MI5's headquarters — outline fears among British authorities that Wilsdorf posed a security risk despite being a naturalized British citizen. Advertisement 5 An undated portrait of Hans Wilsdorf, the German-born founder of Rolex, who British intelligence described in wartime documents as 'well known' for his Nazi sympathies. Born in Bavaria in 1881, Wilsdorf moved to London in 1903, where he began making watches in Hatton Garden and later founded Rolex. He married a British woman, Florence Crotty, before relocating the company's headquarters to Geneva in 1919. By the early 1940s, British officials had become increasingly wary of Wilsdorf's loyalties, the Telegraph reported. Advertisement A 1941 report from the British consul in Geneva said he was 'well known for his strong Nazi sympathies,' pointing to claims that his brother, Karl, was working in Joseph Goebbels's propaganda ministry. According to the file, Swiss federal police were already monitoring Wilsdorf over concerns he might be involved in spreading Nazi messaging worldwide. An MI5 report from 1943 stated that the agency had been keeping tabs on Rolex's British operations in Bexleyheath and suspected Wilsdorf of 'espionage on behalf of the enemy.' 5 Hans Wilsdorf in his office at Rolex, whom wartime British officials suspected of espionage on behalf of Nazi Germany. Advertisement The papers repeatedly described him as 'well known' for his political leanings toward the Nazi regime. Tom Bolt, a horology specialist who owns a Rolex once sent to a POW in Stalag Luft III, said the newly uncovered documents 'show the level of concern within the British authorities about the company's founder' and that blacklisting him would have been 'severely damaging for Rolex.' Rolex has acknowledged knowing about the archive file and says it is taking the allegations seriously. A company spokesperson told The Telegraph that an independent review is underway, led by Swiss historian Dr. Marc Perrenoud, who specializes in Switzerland's role during the Second World War. Advertisement Perrenoud has assembled a committee of historians from multiple countries to assist with the research. 5 Rolex watches on display in London, as the company investigates archival claims that its founder may have had ties to Nazi sympathizers. Getty Images 'In the interest of transparency, we will publish Dr. Perrenoud's findings once he has completed his work,' the spokesperson said. The Post has sought comment from Rolex. The MI5's World War II era report also questioned the true motive behind one of Wilsdorf's most celebrated wartime gestures: sending free Rolex watches to British prisoners of war. In 1940, after German officers confiscated timepieces from captured servicemen, Corporal Clive Nutting — held at the infamous Stalag Luft III camp in Poland — wrote to Wilsdorf asking for replacements. Wilsdorf agreed, telling Nutting he should 'not even think' about paying until after the war. He also sent food parcels and tobacco to some prisoners. 5 A golden Rolex once owned by former German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer is displayed in Geneva. AP Advertisement While the gesture boosted Rolex's public image, British officials at the time speculated whether it was genuine generosity or part of a calculated effort to win favor. Jose Pereztroika, a historian of watchmaking who discovered the MI5 file and alerted The Telegraph, believes the evidence supports the view that Wilsdorf sympathized with the Nazis. While the company's gifts to Allied prisoners could be seen as a sign of solidarity, Pereztroika argued it might also have been 'a stunt to gain favor with the British government' at a time when Swiss watch imports to the UK were largely banned. He suggested the move allowed Rolex to cultivate goodwill while positioning itself for postwar business, even if payment for the watches was deferred. Advertisement A 1941 letter from the Ministry of Economic Warfare's Blacklist Section recommended reviewing whether Wilsdorf should be placed on a trade blacklist, a move that could have crippled Rolex's overseas sales. 5 The 1908 registration of the Rolex name, decades before its founder came under suspicion by MI5 during the Second World War. However, the ministry concluded that blacklisting him 'may not be entirely in our interests' because much of the company's trade was with countries in the British Empire. Officials also noted they had not found direct evidence of harmful activity by the Swiss company. Even so, they flagged that Wilsdorf's financial ties to German bankers could allow enemy interests to influence both the Swiss and British arms of Rolex. Advertisement By 1943, MI5 decided against blacklisting Wilsdorf, despite maintaining he was 'most objectionable.' The British consul at the time said there was 'no doubt whatever' about his political views and voiced skepticism about his aid to prisoners of war, noting that if earlier intelligence was correct, his motives 'hardly seem likely' to have been purely charitable. Experts say the suspicions may also have been fuelled by Rolex's role in supplying dive watches to the Italian navy's frogmen, an elite unit aligned with the Axis powers.
Vogue
6 hours ago
- Vogue
9 Spike Lee Joints to Watch (or Revisit) Now
Spike Lee is something of a Cannes legend—a festival regular who was president of the jury in 2021 and returned this year with his latest high-octane romp, Highest 2 Lowest, a reunion with long-time collaborator Denzel Washington. Ahead of its arrival in theaters this week, we revisit the boundary-pushing auteur's most impactful work to date, from the sun-soaked highs of Do the Right Thing to the devastating gut punch of Da 5 Bloods. She's Gotta Have It (1986) Lee's breakthrough came at the age of 29, with his raucous, ultra-low budget feature-length directorial debut: the zippy tale of a Brooklyn artist (Tracy Camilla Johns) struggling to choose between three lovers, which earned him Cannes's Youth Prize for young directors as well as the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. Some three decades later, he'd adapt it into a spirited, DeWanda Wise-led Netflix series of the same name, too. Do the Right Thing (1989)
