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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cannes 2025: Why Oscars could be next for Palme d'Or winner Jafar Panahi's ‘It Was Just an Accident'
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday following two weeks packed with screenings, stars, press, and parties. With the prizes having been handed out for the festival's 78th anniversary, awards pundits can now start looking at what contenders might be in the best spot to get into the upcoming Oscar race. This year's prestigious Palme d'Or was awarded to It Was Just an Accident from the long-persecuted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. The revenge story centers on five former prisoners who believe they've identified and found the person responsible for torturing them. It's Panahi's first project since his ban on making films was lifted by the country's religious leaders who had imprisoned him for 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic.' It marks the second Iranian film to win Cannes' top honor after Taste of Cherry (tied with The Eel from Japan) in 1997 from Abbas Kiarostami, whom Panahi worked for as an assistant director before making his own movies. More from GoldDerby 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first (updated) All the 'Mission: Impossible' movies, ranked (updated) This year's jury was led by Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche and included such big names as Oscar winner Halle Berry, Emmy-winning actor Jeremy Strong, South Korean director Hong Sang-soo and Indian auteur Payal Kapadia. In recent years, Cannes has served as a major catalyst for Academy Award contenders. Last year, three of the films in the official competition reaped bids for Best Picture: Emilia Pérez, The Substance, and Anora, with the latter winning both the Palme d'Or and the Oscar. Four of the last five Palme d'Or winners have nabbed Best Picture nominations: Parasite (2019), Triangle of Sadness (2022), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), and Anora (2024). Other recent films that received Cannes recognition and became big Oscar players include Drive My Car, The Zone of Interest and BlacKkKlansman. SEE Lights, camera, Cannes! Red carpet photos and A-list presentations from the 2025 film festival Since the Palme d'Or was established in 1955, 43 winners have amassed 149 Academy Award nominations. Nineteen of these have claimed a combined 38 Oscars. Six years ago, Parasite won both the Palme and Best Picture Oscar, making it the first film to do so since Marty pulled off the double play in 1955. That character study was the first of the 19 Palme d'Or champs to land a Best Picture bid, followed by Friendly Persuasion (1957), M*A*S*H (1970), The Conversation (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), All That Jazz (1979), Missing (1982), The Mission (1986), The Piano (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Secrets and Lies (1996), The Pianist (2002), The Tree of Life (2011), Amour (2012), Parasite (2019), Triangle of Sadness (2022), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), and Anora (2024). Considering Panahi's troubled relationship with Iran's religious leaders, the idea that the country would submit the film for Best International Feature at the Oscars seems, at best, questionable. However, it could be submitted by France or Luxembourg as the film was a coproduction with those countries. This happened last year when another Iranian film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, was submitted by Germany. Six Palme d'Or champs have gone on to win this Oscar (previously called Best Foreign-Language Film): Black Orpheus from France (1959), A Man and a Woman from France (1966), The Tin Drum from West Germany (1979), Pelle the Conqueror from Denmark (1988), Amour from Austria (2012) and Parasite from South Korea (2019). Ten other Palme winners were nominated: Keeper of Promises from Brazil (1962), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg from France (1964), Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior from Japan (1980), Man of Iron from Poland (1981), When Father Was Away on Business from Yugoslavia (1985), Farewell My Concubine from Hong Kong (1993), The Class from France (2008), The White Ribbon from Germany (2009), The Square from Sweden (2017) and Shoplifters from Japan (2018).The Grand Prix, the runner-up to the Palme d'Or, went to Sentimental Value from Norwegian director Joachim Trier. The film centers on the strained relationship between an actress (Renate Reinsve) and her estranged director father (Stellan Skarsgård). Trier's last film, The Worst Person in the World, won Best Actress at Cannes in 2021 for Reinsve and scored Oscar nominations for Best International Feature and Original Screenplay. Seventeen Grand Prix winners have earned 35 total Oscar nominations, with seven films scoring 10 wins. Two years ago, The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, won this and earned five nominations including Best Picture, and won two trophies (International Feature and Sound). Five of the other six — Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion from Italy (1970); Cinema Paradiso from Italy (1989); Burnt by the Sun from Russia (1994); Life is Beautiful from Italy (1998); and Son of Saul from Hungary (2015) — won Best International Film. Life is Beautiful also won Best Actor and Best Original Dramatic Score. The 2018 winner of the Grand Prix, BlacKkKlansman, won Best Adapted Screenplay for Spike Lee. The Jury Prize was shared between two films this year: Sirât from French-Spanish director Óliver Laxe and Sound of Falling from German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski. The films that have won here don't correlate as much to the Oscars, but last year's winner, Emilia Pérez, bucked that trend when it scored 13 nominations and two wins: Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña) and Original Song. All told, 15 films that have won the Jury Prize have amassed 52 Oscar nominations and 11 wins. Among these victories were one for Best Picture (All About Eve which played at Cannes in 1951, the year after its Oscar romp) and two for Best International Film (Mon Oncle in 1958 from France and Z in 1969 from Algeria). Best Actress was presented to French performer Nadia Melliti for her work in The Little Sister by Hafsia Herzi. The 23-year-old was a student in Paris when she was discovered by Herzi and had never acted in a film prior to this. She portrays a college student from a French-Algerian family who begins to carve her own identity after she begins her studies. Twenty-two past Cannes champs for Best Actress received nominations from the Academy, and five won: Simone Signoret for Room at the Top (1959); Sophia Loren for Two Women (1961); Sally Field for Norma Rae (1979); Holly Hunter for The Piano (1993); and Saldaña for Emilia Pérez (2024, Oscar won in the supporting category). Best Director went to Brazilian auteur Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent. The political thriller is about a technology expert on the run in 1970s Brazil. The Oscar track record for this award is not great. Only seven of the helmers who prevailed here went on to contend at the Oscars: Robert Altman for The Player (1992); Joel Coen for Fargo (1996); David Lynch for Mulholland Drive (2001); Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel (2006); Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007); Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher (2014); and Pawel Pawlikowski for Cold War (2018). Both Fargo and Babel also earned Best Picture bids. The Secret Agent also took home the Best Actor honor for Wagner Moura's performance in the film. Sixteen winners of the Best Actor award at Cannes have been nominated by the Academy with the most recent being the 2019 champ, Antonio Banderas, for Pain and Glory. Five have taken home the Oscar: Ray Milland for The Lost Weekend (1945); Jon Voight for Coming Home (1978); William Hurt for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985); Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009, Oscar won in the supporting race); and Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011). A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Chinese director Bi Gan for Resurrection. The science fiction drama is about a woman who finds herself trapped inside of several dreams. Films that have received special honors at the festival have not had much luck at the Oscars. The most prominent instances were in 1992 when Howard's End won the 45th Anniversary Prize for James Ivory, 2002 when Bowling for Columbine won the 55th Anniversary Prize for Michael Moore, and last year when Mohammad Rasoulof won a special prize for The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Howard's End scored nine nominations including Best Picture and three wins that included Best Actress (Emma Thompson) and Adapted Screenplay. Bowling would go on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and Seed scored a nomination for Best International Feature. Best Screenplay was awarded Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for Young Mothers. The Belgian filmmaking brothers are perennial favorites at Cannes with their films having won almost every prize at the festival. The only one they've never claimed is the Jury Prize. Their latest centers on five teenage mothers and their children as they are living in a housing center for teenage moms. Last year's winner here, The Substance, became the second screenplay winner to score a Best Picture nomination after Drive My Car became the first in 2021. Both these films scored corresponding screenplay nominations at the Oscars as well. The Substance would go on to win last year's Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Five screenplay winners at Cannes have gone on to claim the International Feature Oscar: Mephisto from Hungary (1981), No Man's Land from Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001), The Barbarian Invasions from Canada (2003; also nominated for Original Screenplay), The Salesman from Iran (2016), and Drive My Car from Japan. Two others were nominated: Footnote from Israel (2011) and Leviathan from Russia (2014). Here is the complete list of Cannes winners: Palme d'Or: It Was Just an Accident Grand Prix: Sentimental Value Jury Prize: (tie) Sirât and Sound of Falling Best Actress: Nadia Melliti, The Little Sister Best Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent Best Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, The Secret Agent Best Screenplay: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Young Mothers Camera d'Or: Hasan Hadi, The President's Cake Camera d'Or Special Mention: Akinola Davies Jr., My Father's Shadow Special Award: Bi Gan, Resurrection Short Film Palme d'Or: 'I'm Glad You're Dead Now,' Tawfeek Barhom Short Film Special Mention: 'Ali,' Adnan Al Rajeev Golden Eye Documentary Prize: Imago, Déni Oumar Pitsaev Golden Eye Documentary 10th Anniversary Prize: The Six Billion Dollar Man Queer Palm: Hafsia Herzi, La Petite Dernière SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Marilyn Monroe movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best Clint Eastwood movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best Morgan Freeman movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best Click here to read the full article.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The Cannes prizewinners to watch for in the Oscar race
After reading about these California beaches, can you blame me for thinking about the south of France right about now? And, you know, the movies at Cannes this year were pretty good too. In fact, we might have another best picture Oscar winner from the festival. I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter, which is back in your inbox after a springtime sabbatical. Today, I'm looking at the news out of the Cannes Film Festival, wondering if Neon's publicity team will be getting any rest this coming awards season. Last year's Cannes Film Festival gave us a Demi Moore comeback ('The Substance'), an overstuffed, ambitious movie musical that everyone loved until they didn't ('Emilia Pérez') and a freewheeling Cinderella story that became the actual Cinderella story of the 2024-25 awards season ('Anora'). Sean Baker's 'Anora' became just the fourth film to take the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, and then go on to win the Oscar for best picture. But it had been only five years since Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' pulled off that feat, so this would seem to be the direction that the academy is going. As the major Hollywood studios have doubled down on IP, indies like A24 and Neon have stepped up, delivering original, daring films that win the hearts of critics, awards voters and, sometimes, moviegoers. Neon brought 'Anora' to Cannes last year, confident that it would make an ideal launching pad. This year, the studio bought films at the festival — among them the taut, tart revenge thriller 'It Was Just an Accident,' from dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, and the anarchic political thriller 'The Secret Agent' from Brazil's Kleber Mendonça Filho. 'It Was Just an Accident' won the Palme, making it the sixth consecutive time Neon has won the award. Despite being one of the world's most celebrated and influential filmmakers for movies like 'No Bears' and 'The White Balloon,' Panahi has never received any recognition at the Oscars. That will change this coming year. Another movie that might deliver the goods is a title Neon announced at Cannes last year, 'Sentimental Value,' an intense family drama that earned a 15-minute standing ovation. Or was it 17? Or 19? The audience at the Grand Théâtre Lumière might still be standing and applauding; who knows with these Cannes festivalgoers. I'd be long gone, heading to the nearest wine bar. The point is: People love this movie. It won the Grand Prix, Cannes' second-highest honor. 'Sentimental Value' is a dysfunctional family dramedy focusing on the relationship between a flawed father (the great Stellan Skarsgård) and his actor daughter (Renate Reinsve, extraordinary), two people who are better at their jobs than they are at grappling with their emotions. They're both sad and lonely, and the film circles a reconciliation, one that's only possible through their artistic endeavors. Norwegian director Joachim Trier directed and co-wrote 'Sentimental Value,' and it's his third collaboration with Reinsve, following her debut in the 2011 historical drama 'Oslo, August 31st' and the brilliant 'The Worst Person in the World,' for which she won Cannes' best actress prize in 2021. Reinsve somehow failed to make the cut at the Oscars that year, an oversight that will likely be corrected several months from now. Reinsve could well be joined in the category by a past Oscar winner, Jennifer Lawrence, who elicited rave reviews for her turn as a new mother coping with a raft of feelings after giving birth in Lynne Ramsay's Cannes competition title 'Die, My Love.' Critics have mostly been kind to the film, which Mubi bought at the festival for $24 million. Just don't label it a postpartum-depression drama, for which Ramsay pointedly chastised reviewers. 'This whole postpartum thing is just bull—,' she told film critic Elvis Mitchell. 'It's not about that. It's about a relationship breaking down, it's about love breaking down, and sex breaking down after having a baby. And it's also about a creative block.' However you want to read it, 'Die, My Love' looks like a comeback for Lawrence, last seen onscreen two years ago, showing her comic chops in the sweetly raunchy 'No Hard Feelings.' Lawrence won the lead actress Oscar for the 2012 film 'Silver Linings Playbook' and has been nominated three other times — for 'Winter's Bone,' 'American Hustle' and 'Joy.' With Ramsay's movie, which co-stars Robert Pattinson as her husband, Lawrence may well have printed her return ticket to the ceremony, which would be welcome. The Oscars are always more fun when she's in the room.
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Cannes awards Palme d'Or to Iranian revenge drama ‘It Was Just an Accident'
Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for his revenge thriller 'It Was Just an Accident,' handing the festival's top prize to a director who had been banned from leaving Iran for more than 15 years. Cate Blanchett presented the award to Panahi, who three years ago was imprisoned in Iran before going on a hunger strike. For a decade and a half, he has made films clandestinely in his native country, including one film ('This Is Not a Film') made in his living room, and another ('Taxi') set in a car. The crowd rose in a thunderous standing ovation for the filmmaker, who immediately threw up his arms and leaned back in his seat in disbelief before applauding his collaborators and the audience around him. On stage, Panahi was cheered by Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche, who in 2010 in Cannes held up Panahi's name to honor the director when he was under house arrest. On stage, Panahi said what mattered most was freedom in his country. 'Let us join forces,' said Panahi. 'No one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do or what we should not do. The cinema is a society. Nobody is entitled to tell what we should or refrain from doing.' The win for 'It Was Just an Accident' extended an unprecedented streak: The indie distributor Neon has now backed the last six Palme d'Or winners. The latest triumph for Neon, which acquired 'It Was Just an Accident' for North American distribution after its premiere in Cannes, follows its Palmes for 'Parasite,' 'Titane,' 'Triangle of Sadness,' 'Anatomy of a Fall' and 'Anora.' All those films were Oscar contenders and two, 'Parasite' and 'Anora,' won best picture. Last year, filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran to attend the premiere of his film in Cannes and resettle in Germany. Panahi, though, has said that unlike his friend Rasoulof, life in exile isn't for him. He planned to fly home to Tehran on Sunday.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Last Year's Cannes Winners Won Big at Oscars. Can the 2025 Crop Do the Same?
Awards strategists used to be wary of the Cannes Film Festival, claiming it came too early in the calendar to launch a lasting Oscar campaign. They don't say that anymore. The last two editions of Cannes have proved to be a veritable gold rush, producing three best-picture nominees each. The 2024 festival proved particularly fruitful, as films that premiered at Cannes — including 'Emilia Pérez,' 'The Substance,' 'Flow' and the eventual best-picture winner, 'Anora' — won a combined nine Oscars. But this year's crop of Cannes contenders may have a harder time hitting those highs. The three films with the strongest best-picture potential are all primarily in a language other than English, and the academy has never nominated more than two such films in a single year for the top Oscar. Still, as the academy grows ever more global, it's possible all three could break through. The first big contender is Jafar Panahi's 'Un Simple Accident,' a taut moral drama about former Iranian prisoners who believe they've tracked down their old torturer. The winner of the Palme d'Or, 'Un Simple Accident' is the most accessible movie yet from Panahi, a dissident filmmaker who has twice been imprisoned by Iranian authorities. And like the last five Palme winners, the film will be distributed by Neon, which has a track record of steering them to Oscar glory. Only one thing gives me pause. Neon also handled last year's Cannes entry 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig,' which had a similar back story: It, too, was directed in secret by an Iranian dissident, though even with that compelling narrative, it couldn't muster more than an international-film nomination. Hopefully, Panahi's Palme win will nudge Neon to campaign even harder for 'Un Simple Accident,' which could factor into the picture and director categories with the right push. Neon is also distributing the Norwegian drama 'Sentimental Value,' which won the second-place prize at Cannes. Directed by Joachim Trier ('The Worst Person in the World'), it stars Stellan Skarsgard as a filmmaker who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter (played by Renate Reinsve) by offering her a leading role. With its focus on acting and filmmaking, 'Sentimental Value' will hit home for many voters. A best-picture nomination is possible, though its strongest shot at a major nod is a first nomination for the never-better Skarsgard, It may help, too, that several of the movie's scenes are in English as Skarsgard's character woos a Hollywood actress (Elle Fanning) to take part in his new project. Another film about moviemaking that could charm its way into the race is 'Nouvelle Vague,' from the director Richard Linklater ('Boyhood'). Filmed in French and shot in luscious black and white, it's a behind-the-scenes comedy about the making of Jean-Luc Godard's seminal 'Breathless.' Though it left Cannes empty-handed, 'Nouvelle Vague' is a highbrow crowd-pleaser in the vein of 'The Artist,' and if the right studio picks it up, a best-picture nomination is well within reach. Among the acting contenders, Jennifer Lawrence drew raves as a disintegrating new mother in 'Die My Love,' though the movie itself divided critics. The festival's best-actor award went to Wagner Moura for the Brazilian drama 'The Secret Agent,' another Neon pickup. If the studio doesn't already have its hands full with 'Sentimental Value' and 'Un Simple Accident,' Moura (best known to stateside audiences for his roles in 'Narcos' and 'Civil War') deserves a robust campaign. Finally, the international-feature race is almost certain to be stuffed with Cannes breakouts. Three that won awards at the festival were 'Sound of Falling' (Germany), 'My Father's Shadow' (Nigeria), and 'The President's Cake,' the first Iraqi film to ever be honored at Cannes. Expect all three to be major contenders in that race.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Film Festival Winners 2025: ‘It Was Just an Accident' Wins Palme d'Or
Iranian director Jafar Panahi's triumphant return to the Cannes Film Festival, 'It Was Just an Accident,' has won the Palme d'Or as the best film in competition at the festival, the Cannes jury announced on Saturday evening. Panahi, who spent almost 20 years in prison or under house arrest in Iran for making anti-government films, was allowed to leave the country and go to the festival for the first time in more than two decades with the film, which deals with victims of oppression who abduct a man they believe was their torturer in prison. 'The bracing thing about 'It Was Just an Accident' is that it has married Panahi's wit and humanism with real anger,' said TheWrap's review.'… In a festival full of fury, this is one of the films that hits hardest and resonates longest.' The review also suggested that the film, which premiered on Tuesday, could be a likely winner: 'The figure of the director standing on the stage after being banned for so long is simply too irresistible, and the movie is simply too good.' After its premiere, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film, which now means that the company has distributed the last six consecutive Palme d'Or winners, beginning with 'Parasite' in 2019 and also including 'Titane,' 'Triangle of Sadness,' 'Anatomy of a Fall' and last year's winner, 'Anora.' Neon came to Cannes with deals to distribute two films in the main competition, Julia Ducournau's 'Alpha' and Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value.' During the festival, it made additional deals with three more contenders, 'Sirat,' 'The Secret Agent' and 'It Was Just an Accident.' Four of Neon's five main-competition films ended up with awards, with only 'Alpha' going home empty-handed. The runner-up award, the Grand Prix, was given to Joachim Trier's family drama 'Sentimental Value.' The third-place award, the Jury Prize, was shared by two dark and ambitious films, Oliver Laxe's raucous road trip film 'Sirat' and Mascha Schilinski's century-spanning 'Sound of Falling.' Wagner Moura won the Best Actor award for his performance as a dissident on the run in Kleber Mendonca Filho's Brazilian drama 'The Secret Agent,' while Best Actress award went to Nadia Melliti for 'The Little Sister.' Mendonca Filho also won the directing award for 'The Secret Agent,' while the Dardenne brothers won the screenplay award for 'Young Mothers.' A special award went to 'Resurrection,' the tw0-hour-and-40-minute fantasia from Bi Gan. The Camera d'Or, which goes to the best first film from any section of the festival, went to Hasan Hadi for 'The President's Cake,' the first Iraqi film to win an award in Cannes. The film had previously won the audience award in the Directors' Fortnight section. The ceremony also included John C. Reilly singing the Edith Piaf classic 'La vie en rose' before presenting the screenplay award. The winners have been chosen by a jury headed by French actress Juliette Binoche. Other jurors included American actors Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, Indian director Payal Kapadia, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani, Congolese director Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director Hong Sangsoo and Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. The 21 films in the main competition also included Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme,' Ari Aster's 'Eddington,' Julia Ducournau's 'Alpha,' Oliver Hermanus' 'The History of Sound,' Richard Linklater's 'Nouvelle Vague,' Sergei Loznitsa's 'Two Prosecutors,' Lynne Ramsay's 'Die My Love' and Kelly Reichardt's 'The Mastermind.' Last year, for only the third time ever but for the second time in the last six years, the Palme d'Or winner, 'Anora,' went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Two other Cannes winners, 'Emilia Perez' and 'The Substance,' went on to be nominated for Best Picture and to win other Oscars, while screenplay winner 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' was nominated for Best International Feature Film. The winners: Palme d'Or: 'It Was Just an Accident,' Jafar PanahiGrand Prix: 'Sentimental Value,' Joachim TrierJury Prize: (TIE) 'Sirat,' Oliver Laxe, and 'Sound of Falling,' Mascha SalinskiBest Director: Kleber Mendonca Filho, 'The Secret Agent'Best Actor: Wagner Moura, 'The Secret Agent'Best Actress: Nadia Melliti, 'The Little Sister'Best Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 'Young Mothers'Special Prize: 'Resurrection,' Bi Gan Camera d'Or (Best First Film): 'The President's Cake,' Hasan Hadi Short Film Palme d'Or: 'I'm Glad You're Dead Now,' Tawfeek BarhomShort Film Special Mention: 'Ali,' Adnan Al Rajeev The post Cannes Film Festival Winners 2025: 'It Was Just an Accident' Wins Palme d'Or appeared first on TheWrap.
