Audiard and Gainsbourg winners

by Fabien Lemercier

25/05/2009 - The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was a true triumph for France, in particular thanks to the Grand Prize for A Prophet [trailer, film focus] (see review) by Jacques Audiard (see interview).

Having won Best Screenplay in 1996 for his only other appearance in competition on the Croisette, the director has since been climbing the ranks of international cinema. Produced by Chic Films, Why Not Productions and Page 114, A Prophet was co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, UGC Images and Italy’s BIM (10% investment), pre-bought by Canal + and Ciné Cinéma and backed by the Ile-de-France region. UGC will release the film domestically on August 26 and Celluloid Dreams is handling international sales.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Gainsbourg was crowned Best Actress for her outstanding performance in Danish director Lars von Trier’s highly controversial Antichrist [trailer, film focus]. She follows in the footsteps of other French actresses honoured at Cannes, including this year’s jury president Isabelle Huppert, who received the award in 2001 for Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher.

Moreover, the 2009 Palme d’Or-winner, Haneke’s The White Ribbon [trailer, film focus] (see review), was 22% co-produced by France via Les Films du Losange (who will launch the film in France and manage international sales) and France 3 Cinéma, with pre-sales from Canal+ and TPS.

This year’s Cannes festival also brought glory for France with the Special Jury Prize going to French director Alain Resnais (in competition this year with Wild Grass [trailer]).

Finally, France was indirectly lauded with Best Director going to Philippine filmmaker Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay and Best Screenplay to China’s Mei Feng for Spring Fever, two films co-produced by French companies Swift Productions and Rosem Films, respectively.

(Translated from French)