The 70th Cannes Film Festival

The 70th Cannes Film Festival wrapped up on May 28th after 12 days of screenings, lectures, panel discussions, awards, and celebrations. This year’s fest was the 9th to feature a jury competition, whereby documentaries of 25 minutes or less along with short films are accepted and examined by a panel of judges.

Among the highlights were director Ruben Östlund capturing the festival’s highest honor, the Palme d’Or, Nicole Kidman winning the Special 70th Anniversary Prize, and Sofia Coppola walking away as Best Director—the first female to win this honor in over 50 years.

For her dramatic role in Fatih Akin’s In the Fade, Diane Kruger was awarded Best Actress for her performance in this poignant film about the aftermath of a terrorist bombing. During her acceptance speech, she sincerely acknowledged all of those who are affected by terrorism.

Writer-director Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here ended up in a tie with The Killing of a Sacred Deer in the category of Best Screen Play. All eyes were on Ruben Östlund as he stole the spotlight at the Lumiere Theatre for garnering the coveted Palme d’Or award for The Square, a satire focusing on the art world that stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Moss, and Dominic West. After not reaching the nominee’s list in the Oscars Foreign Language category two years ago for his movie Force Majeure, Östlund rejoiced and requested the photographers turn their cameras towards the audience as he playfully directed the crowd in a chorus of happiness.

The elation was contagious. Despite the recent tragedy in Manchester, or perhaps in some way because of it, these film artists celebrated their craft with what seemed to be a renewed spirit and commitment to deliver compelling silver screen performances to touch and inspire audiences the world over.