26/05/2013 - Reactions hot off the press from the jury and European winners of the competition at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.

Extracts from tonight's press conference given by the jury of the competition at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, its award-winning filmmakers and actors.

Steven Spielberg (President of the Jury):
"We came to one decision reached by consensus and unanimously for three of our choices. But our opinions never clashed. Blue is the Warmest Colour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abdellatif Kechiche
film profile] is a very great and very beautiful love story. And we were more privileged than embarassed by this profound love: it was magnificent. I'm glad someone had the courage to tell this story. It wasn't politics that influenced us, it was the film, even though it does bear an important message. It was perfectly natural to include the two actresses in the Palme d'Or for, without the cast, it could never have worked for a highly observant and sensitive director."

Abdellatif Kechiche (Palme d’Or for Blue is the Warmest Colour):
"This reward is very welcome. I was very moved to share it with Adèle and Léa. Beacuse what you achieve or fail with in a film, you achieve or fail together. What's very powerful in this movie is this kind of fusion between us. It's what I always aspire to, that we work in this spirit which is rather like being part of a family. I dedicated this film to young people in France for their spirit of liberty. We're lagging a bit behind them, they're more open-minded to the world than previous generations. And I hope that this recognition will help people to look at them without being shocked."

Bérénice Bejo (Best Actress Award for The Past [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]):
"I wasn't expecting this at all. When you have a director like Asghar Farhadi who looks at you so clearly and who also tells stories so very well, you just thank him. As soon as I read the screenplay, I could only see his name, because I knew just how far he could take his actresses."

(Translated from French)