The draws to a close Saturday with the presentation of one of cinema鈥檚 highest honors, the Palme d鈥橭r. This year, the race may be wide open.
By wide consensus, it hasn鈥檛 been a banner festival. Hollywood largely sat out this year鈥檚 edition. Many of the selections struggled to bowl over critics. The global buzz that Cannes typically generates was fitful at best.
But the lack of a clear front-runner should give the nine-member jury, headed by Korean filmmaker , a range of possibilities for the Palme. Winning Cannes’ top honor almost immediately raises the international profile of a film, and likely sets it up as an Oscar contender, too.
Some of the festival鈥檚 best received films include Polish filmmaker a black-and-white postwar rumination on art and politics; Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi鈥檚 a tender three-hour elder care opus; Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev鈥檚 a drama of crime and punishment in contemporary Russia; and Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu鈥檚 Norway-set child services nightmare 鈥淔jord.鈥�
But on the second-to-last day of the festival, a possible dark horse emerged. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s 鈥淭he Black Ball鈥� found one of Cannes’ most passionate receptions. The sprawling Spanish film tells a story of three gay men across generations.
But few awards are harder to predict than the Palme d鈥橭r. The jury鈥檚 deliberations are entirely private. Any of the 22 films in competition in Cannes can win. This year’s jury also includes Demi Moore, Chlo茅 Zhao and Stellan Skarsg氓rd.
Those who are chosen for a prize 鈥� others to be handed out Saturday include best actress, best actor and the grand prix 鈥� are asked by the festival to return to Cannes for the closing ceremony. They know they’ve won something, but they don’t know what. Typically, juries award only one prize per movie.
One of is on the line. Neon, the specialty label, has been attached to the last six Palme d鈥橭r winners. That includes last year鈥檚 champion, Jafar Panahi鈥檚 and the 2024 winner, The latter went on to .
Saturday鈥檚 ceremony will be missing its tribute honoree. Barbra Streisand was to receive an honorary Palme d鈥橭r, but a knee injury will . The festival still plans to honor Streisand.
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