27/05/2007

Excerpts from the statements of the winners of the 60th Cannes Film Festival during the press conference following the awards ceremony:

Cristian Mungiu (Palme d’Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Oleg Mutu
film profile]):
I guess it’s a wonderful thing that Romanian cinema, which has developed over the last years, received a Palme d’Or. But without the previous success of my colleagues my film would never have been chosen to compete in the official selection. We worked very quickly on this film, we did everything at once: the financing scheme, the scriptwriting, the casting… We were our own producers, as well as our own secretaries, drivers… All financial resources helped make the movie. We spent more than we were supposed to and we expected that the quality of the film would make up for that. This Palme d’Or is more important than an Oscar. It gives me confidence for the future, it gives me strength to continue writing good stories.

Naomi Kawase (Grand Jury Prize for The Mourning Forest):
Ten years ago, the Camera d'Or was a big surprise for me. This year I had this tremendous responsibility of being the only Japanese film in competition. This award will allow me to show my vision of the world, to say to people that invisible things are as important as visible ones.

Julian Schnabel (Best Director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]):
I decided to shoot in French because the story was written by a Frenchman in a French hospital – a very special place. I could simply not reproduce all of that in Hollywood with an Anglo-Saxon cast. I really don’t see the difference between this prize and the Palme d’Or because I didn’t make this film to get a prize. I’m glad though to now belong to this club of winners because before being a filmmaker I am a film lover. More important than making a film is to do something that helps others.

Fatih Akin (Best Screenplay for The Edge of Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
interview: Klaus Maeck
film profile]):
I am very proud. It has always been a dream for me to compete in Cannes and get a prize! This is unbelievable! I am going crazy! But once you come to Cannes you get easily used to it. Hopefully I'll be back in two or three years, if everything goes fine!

Carlos Reygadas (Jury Prize for Silent Light [+see also:
trailer
film profile]):
I wasn't expecting any prize in particular, so I am very happy and I look at this prize as global compensation. It doesn't recognise just the work of a cast and of a director, but the entire team.

(Translated from French)