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Arab News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Iran's Jafar Panahi Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes
DUBAI: Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi made a triumphant return to the global stage, winning the prestigious Palme d'Or for his latest film 'It Was Just an Accident' at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ Panahi, long a symbol of artistic defiance in Iran, had previously faced imprisonment and a 20-year ban on filmmaking and international travel. His emotional appearance at the festival, where he received the award from jury president Juliette Binoche — a vocal supporter of his work — marked a significant moment for both the director and Cannes. A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@festivaldecannes) The political thriller centers on a former prisoner who kidnaps the man he believes tortured him and grapples with fellow dissidents over whether to exact revenge or offer forgiveness. The ceremony also recognized other global talents. Chinese director Bi Gan received a special jury prize for 'Resurrection,' while Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi made history as the first from his country to win the Camera d'Or for debut feature 'The President's Cake.' A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@festivaldecannes) Brazil's Wagner Moura took home best actor honors for 'The Secret Agent,' a 1970s-set political drama by Kleber Mendonça Filho, who also won best director. German director Mascha Schilinski and Spain's Oliver Laxe shared the Jury Prize for their respective films 'Sound of Falling' and 'Sirat.' The former is a sweeping multigenerational family saga, while the latter explores an apocalyptic vision of the Moroccan desert through techno-infused storytelling. Actor John C. Reilly surprised audiences with a rendition of 'La Vie en Rose' before presenting best screenplay to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for 'Young Mothers,' the Belgian brothers' latest social drama.
CNA
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Iranian filmmaker Panahi wins top prize at Cannes
It Was Just an Accident by dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or for best film at the Cannes Festival on Saturday (May 24). The highly political but wry film tells the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronted with a man they believed tortured them in jail. Panahi, who has been imprisoned twice in his home country and banned from making films, used his acceptance speech to urge Iranians to work towards freedom. "I believe this is the moment to call on all people, all Iranians, with all their differing opinions, wherever they are in the world – in Iran or abroad – to allow me to ask for one thing," Panahi said, according to a translation. "Let's set aside all problems, all differences. What matters most right now is our country and the freedom of our country." Brazil's Wagner Moura won the best actor award for his performance in police thriller The Secret Agent, while France's Nadia Melliti clinched the gong for best actress. Melliti, appearing in her first film, plays a 17-year-old Muslim girl in Paris struggling with her homosexuality in Hafsia Herzi's widely acclaimed The Little Sister. Sentimental Value by Norway's Joachim Trier, a moving family drama given a 19-minute standing ovation on Thursday, picked up the second prize Grand Prix. The victory for Panahi is a huge endorsement for a director who has become a symbol of defiance in his country, where his films are routinely banned. He has vowed to return to Tehran after the festival despite the risks of prosecution. SABOTAGE Saturday's closing ceremony was the final act of a drama-filled day in Cannes that saw the glitzy seaside resort suffer a more than five-hour power cut. The outage knocked out traffic lights and had visitors and locals scrambling for paper money because cash machines were out of order and restaurants were left unable to process card payments. Local officials said a suspected arson attack on the substation about 12km northwest of central Cannes had caused a major fire at around 2am. Along the coast in the opposite direction, a pylon which carries a high-voltage line was discovered with three of its four legs damaged, the local prosecutor's office announced. German director Mascha Schilinski joked that she had "had difficulty writing her speech" because of the black-out as she accepted the jury prize for widely hailed Sound Of Falling. POLITICS Beyond the official competition, the French Riviera has been buzzing with A-listers this year including Tom Cruise, pop sensation Charli XCX and model Bella Hadid. Beyond the champagne-filled beach parties, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as US President Donald Trump have been major talking-points. US filmmaker Todd Haynes warned of the "barbaric US presidency", while Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal admitted it was "scary" to speak out against President Donald Trump. The Gaza war has been on the minds of some of the festival's guests, with more than 900 cinema figures signing an open letter denouncing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory, according to organisers. Cannes jury head Juliette Binoche, Schindler's List star Ralph Fiennes, US indie director Jim Jarmusch and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – in town to present a documentary he stars in – were among the signatories. But UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said the festival felt like a "bubble of indifference" when she visited it Friday. AWARDS Other secondary awards were announced before Saturday's closing ceremony. The first Chechen film to screen at the Cannes Festival, Imago, won best documentary, while the film about the life of Assange, The Six Billion Dollar Man, picked up a special jury prize on Friday. In the secondary Un Certain Regard section, Chilean filmmaker Diego Cespedes won the top prize for The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo, which follows a group of trans women living in a desert mining town in the 1980s. On a lighter note, a sheepdog which features in Icelandic family drama The Love That Remains won the Palm Dog prize for canine performers in festival films.
CNA
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Dissident Iranian filmmaker Panahi wins top prize at Cannes
CANNES: It Was Just an Accident by dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or for best film at the Cannes Festival on Saturday (May 24). The highly political but wry film tells the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronted with a man they believed tortured them in jail. Panahi, who has been imprisoned twice in his home country and banned from making films, used his acceptance speech to urge Iranians to work towards freedom. "I believe this is the moment to call on all people, all Iranians, with all their differing opinions, wherever they are in the world - in Iran or abroad - to allow me to ask for one thing," Panahi said, according to a translation. "Let's set aside all problems, all differences. What matters most right now is our country and the freedom of our country." Brazil's Wagner Moura won the best actor award for his performance in police thriller The Secret Agent, while France's Nadia Melliti clinched the gong for best actress. Melliti, appearing in her first film, plays a 17-year-old Muslim girl in Paris struggling with her homosexuality in Hafsia Herzi's widely acclaimed The Little Sister. Sentimental Value by Norway's Joachim Trier, a moving family drama given a 19-minute standing ovation on Thursday, picked up the second prize Grand Prix. The victory for Panahi is a huge endorsement for a director who has become a symbol of defiance in his country, where his films are routinely banned. He has vowed to return to Tehran after the festival despite the risks of prosecution. SABOTAGE Saturday's closing ceremony was the final act of a drama-filled day in Cannes that saw the glitzy seaside resort suffer a more than five-hour power cut. The outage knocked out traffic lights and had visitors and locals scrambling for paper money because cash machines were out of order and restaurants were left unable to process card payments. Local officials said a suspected arson attack on the substation about 12km northwest of central Cannes had caused a major fire at around 2am (0000 GMT). Along the coast in the opposite direction, a pylon which carries a high-voltage line was discovered with three of its four legs damaged, the local prosecutor's office announced. German director Mascha Schilinski joked that she had "had difficulty writing her speech" because of the black-out as she accepted the jury prize for widely hailed Sound of Falling. POLITICS Beyond the official competition, the French Riviera has been buzzing with A-listers this year including Tom Cruise, pop sensation Charli XCX and model Bella Hadid. Beyond the champagne-filled beach parties, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as US President Donald Trump have been major talking-points. US filmmaker Todd Haynes warned of the "barbaric US presidency", while Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal admitted it was "scary" to speak out against President Donald Trump. The Gaza war has been on the minds of some of the festival's guests, with more than 900 cinema figures signing an open letter denouncing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory, according to organisers. Cannes jury head Juliette Binoche, Schindler's List star Ralph Fiennes, US indie director Jim Jarmusch and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange - in town to present a documentary he stars in - were among the signatories. But UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said the festival felt like a "bubble of indifference" when she visited it Friday. AWARDS Other secondary awards were announced before Saturday's closing ceremony. The first Chechen film to screen at the Cannes Festival - Imago - won best documentary, while the film about the life of Assange - The Six Billion Dollar Man - picked up a special jury prize on Friday. In the secondary Un Certain Regard section, Chilean filmmaker Diego Cespedes won the top prize for The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, which follows a group of trans women living in a desert mining town in the 1980s. On a lighter note, a sheepdog which features in Icelandic family drama The Love That Remains won the Palm Dog prize for canine performers in festival films.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NEON Shines Brightly With Six For Six Palme d'Or Winners After Jafar Panahi's ‘It Was Just An Accident'
Call them a barometer, clairvoyant, or just god damn shrewd when it comes to choosing award-winning movies, but NEON has just scored its sixth Cannes Palme d'Or in a row with It Was Just an Accident. Deadline's Andreas Wiseman first reported two days ago that NEON scooped up North American rights to the movie. More from Deadline Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced: Palme D'Or Goes To Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just An Accident' Grand Prize To 'Sentimental Value'; 'The Secret Agent's Wagner Moura Best Actor, Kleber Mendonça Filho Best Director - Updating Live Neon Taking North American Rights To Natalie Portman Cannes Animation 'Arco' 'Imago' Director Déni Oumar Pitsaev On Winning Two Prizes In Cannes: "I Didn't Expect It At All" This comes after last year's Cannes top prize winner Anora, Justine Triet's 2023 title Anatomy of a Fall, 2022's Triangle of Sadness, 2021's Titane and 2019's Parasite. Out of that bunch, Anora and Parasite went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, which is whole other level of award campaigning genius on behalf of the Tom Quinn run distribution label. It Was Just an Accident blurb reads 'What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.' The pic was one of the best-reviewed movies at the festival, deals in a fictional way with past wrongfully incarcerated working-class people seeking revenge against the guard who tortured and berated them. Interesting, NEON had all bases covered in regards to who might spring up as a Palme d'Or winner with their other acquisitions coming up with alotta gold tonight. Last year, Deadline exclusively reported that NEON took domestic on Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value which was buzzed to take the top prize as well, but settled with the Grand Prix. NEON's Un Poeta from Simon Mesa Soto won the Jury Prize. In addition, NEON took Brazil's buzzy 1977 political thriller The Secret Agent earlier this week, that Kleber Mendonca Filho directed movie walking away with Best Director tonight as well as Best Actor for Wagner Moura. No theatrical release dates have been set yet for these titles by NEON. October has been a prized timeframe for the distributor to launch Cannes titles, read, that's when Anora, Parasite and Triangle of Sadness opened. Best of Deadline 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'The Testaments,' Sequel Series To 'The Handmaid's Tale' So Far
France 24
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Brazil's truth-teller Mendonca Filho's double Cannes win
The former journalist won the best director and Wagner Moura best actor for playing an academic being hunted down by a corrupt politician. It was Mendonca Filho's third triumph at the world's biggest film festival, after taking the second prize in 2019 for his dystopian drama "Bacurau" set in a near future where foreigners descend on an isolated rural settlement to hunt down the locals to earn points in a game. But the release of that genre-bending "weird western" -- which critics adored -- was hobbled by the pandemic. "The Secret Agent" is even more overtly political, a dark thriller set in the steamy heat of Mendonca Filho's home town of Recife in 1977, during what the film calls "a period of great mischief". That mischief is a euphemism for the murderous military dictatorship, with the northern city's carnival providing the cover for the disappearance of 100 people, with many of the bodies dumped in the sea. The film follows an academic played by "Narcos" star Moura with a couple of hitmen on his tail hired by a corrupt minister, who wants to shut down a university research lab so he can transfer its lucrative research to a private company. 'Self-imposed amnesia' "Brazil has a problem of self-imposed amnesia that was normalised with the amnesty in 1979" when the country returned to civilian rule, Mendonca Filho told reporters in Cannes after the film's premiere. "The amnesty was proposed by the military government itself, which since 1964 had committed countless acts of violence against the Brazilian population. "This amnesia I think caused a trauma in the psychology of the country. It became normalised to commit all kinds of violence and then simply cover it up," he said. Then "everything starts over again because it is very unpleasant to talk about certain things", the director added. Yet the killings keep coming back to haunt people, he added, with a supernatural "hairy leg" hopping around the city at night in the film terrifying people. With "Jaws" scaring the inhabitants witless in the local cinemas, a severed leg also turns up in the belly of a shark. The movie drips with sweat and corruption, critics said, with Variety calling it a "terrific... meaty period piece" and The Guardian newspaper lauding his "thrilling, bravura film-making" in its five-star review. Prophetic Despite the darkness of its themes, Mendonca Filho praised Brazil as "a country full of beauty and poetry" as he accepted the best director award. Mendonca Filho said that the film is oddly prophetic, with its story of corrupt politicians trying to close down universities for their own ends. "This script was written four years ago and now in the United States there is an entire situation where universities are being attacked basically for teaching science and presenting factual and scientific interpretations of the world," he said. US President Donald Trump has clashed with many of the country's top universities, cutting their funding and barring foreign students from Harvard. Mendonca Filho said attacks on education were typical of the far right, and "I thought that this would naturally be part of the script and the idea of the movie." "While writing the script, I remembered a very well-known saying in the Soviet Union, which was 'No good deed goes unpunished.'" Mendonca Filho has long tackled corruption in his homeland, taking on property developers in his film "Aquarius", which was shown at Cannes in 2016, as they try to drive a retired writer played by Sonia Braga from her seafront home. The director inspires such devotion in Brazil that "The Secret Agent" star Moura said that "if Kleber were to make 'Little Red Riding Hood', I would like it."
