Elephant wins Palme d'Or

by Fabien Lemercier

25/05/2003 - Double whammy for America's Gus Van Sant with best film and best direction while European cinema makes do with the Caméra d'Or for Reconstruction. The winners

THE WINNERS

The 56th edition of the Cannes FilmFestival will go down in history as one of the most surprising ever. Patrice Chéreau’s jury managed to overlook the much-touted favourite to win the Palme d’Or, Lars von Trier’s Dogville, in favour of Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. French icon Isabelle Huppert presented the American director with the Palme d’Or for his magnificent interpretation of the tragic Columbine massacre. He also won the Best Director nod. A double victory for Van Sant who, in his acceptance speech, said he "shared the award with the high school teenagers who starred in the film" and added "I've been trying to get my films to Cannes for years, and this time, it's wonderful to receive such a prize. To win is miraculous and fortunate and lucky. Vive La France!”

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Canada was also celebrating the two awards won by Denys Arcand’s Les invasions barbares [+see also:
trailer
film profile] : best screenplay and, amazingly, best actress for Marie-Josée Croze as a heroin addict who recovers her love of life when she helps a man to die in peace and with dignity.
Les Invasions Barbares is a French co-production by Pyramide and this award joins the Jury Prize that Arcand won in Cannes in 1989 for Jésus de Montréal.

The third winner of this festival has to be Uzak by Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan who takes home the Jury Grand Prix and a shared best actor Palme for Muzaffer Ozdemir and a posthumous one for Mehmet Emin Toprak: sadly Toprak died in a road accident right after learning the film had been selected for Cannes. Bilge Ceylan has enjoyed a striking career since his 1995 debut feature and he dedicated today’s award to the only other Turkish director to have won a Palme d’Or: Yilmaz Guney for Yol in 1982.

The Jury Award went to the 23-year-old Iranian Samira Makhmalbaf for A cinq heures de l’après-midi. Europe came away virtually empty-handed : the only consolation being the Caméra d’Or won by Denmark’s Christoffer Boe for Reconstruction that screened in Critics’ Week.

Feature Films

Palme d´Or
Elephant by Gus Van Sant

The Grand Prix of the Jury
Uzak by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Prix of the Jury
Panj é Asr by Samira Makhmalbaf

Best Director
Gus Van Sant (Elephant)

Best Screenplay
Les invasions barbares [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Denys Arcand

Best Actress
Marie-Josée Croze (Les Invasions Barbares)

Best Actor
M. Emin Toprak and Muzaffer Özdemir (Uzak)

Caméra d´Or
Reconstruction by Christoffer Boe

Special Mention for a First Film
Osama by Siddiq Barmak

Short Films

Palme d´Or
Cracker Bag by Glendyn Ivin