After two weeks of battling it out in the South of France, Jafar Panahi’s new film Un Simple Accident has taken the prestigious award at the 78th edition of the festival.
The film is written and directed by Panahi and scored positive reviews when it screened for the press on the Croisette on Tuesday last week. What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences in the drama from the Iranian filmmaker who was once imprisoned and made to produce films underground. His latest film was reportedly made in secret, the project a huge accomplishment that culminated in triumph at the Grand Lumière Theater on Saturday evening.
Also among the winners was Joachim Trier’s new film Sentimental Value, which picked up the Grand Prix at the festival. The Jury Prize went to two films; the well-regarded SIRAT, which I heard good things about when I was in town earlier in the week, and also Sound Of Falling, which also garnered great reviews.
The Secret Agent filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho won Best Director, while the acting gongs went to Wagner Moura for the same film and Nadia Melliti for La Petite Dernier.
The Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc scored Best Screenplay for The Young Mother’s Home (Jeunes Mères) while the Special Prize went to Bi Gan for Resurrection, which screened late in the festival programme.
