WINNERS OF THE 2024 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The winner of the Palme d'Or at the close of the 77th Cannes Film Festival is "Anora", the latest from American indie filmmaker, Sean Baker. Baker's entire filmography has been focused on marginalized outcasts, in particular sex workers, with the films, "Starlet", "Tangerine" and "Red Rocket" and now with "Anora", the story revolves around a stripper (Mikey Madison) who meets and falls in love with the son (Mark Eidelstein) of a Russian oligarch. But when his parents finds out about her past, they are not pleased and try to end their relationship.

The runner-up Grand Prize went to "All We Imagine as Light" from Payal Kapadia. This feature film debut, which is the first selection for competition from India in many years, follows a couple of nurses in Mumbai who are both having troubled relationships. A road trip they go on together to a beach town opens their minds to other possibilities.

The third place winner of the Jury Prize was awarded to "Emilia Pérez", a Spanish-language musical-comedy from acclaimed French filmmaker, Jacques Audiard, the two-time Palme d'Or winner for "Rust and Bone" and "Dheepan". This film is about a drug cartel leader (Édgar Ramírez) who decides to change the direction of his life and his gender. The four female leads in "Emilia Pérez": Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz and Selena Gomez, all share the Best Actress prize.

Best Director went to Miguel Gomes for his work in "Grand Tour", a period drama set in Rangoon, Burma (now known as Myanmar) involving a Civil servant who takes off and abandons his fiancée on their wedding day. However, she is determined to be married and begins a quest to track him down. And Jesse Plemons won Best Actor for his performance in Yorgos Lanthimos' upcoming absurdist dark comedy, "Kinds of Kindness" where he plays three different roles.

And one of the buzziest films at the fest was "The Substance", Coralie Fargeat's social satire, horror-comedy that features Demi Moore (in a very welcome comeback) as a long-time television host who is fired from her job for being too "old", taking extreme measures in the form of a drug that transforms her into her "best self" which becomes the form of Margaret Qualley. The French director won the Best Screenplay award for this film.

Here is the list of winners of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival:

Palme d’Or: "Anora"
Grand Prize: "All We Imagine as Light"



Jury Prize: "Emilia Perez"



Best Director: Miguel Gomes, "Grand Tour"



Best Screenplay: Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"



Special Prize: Mohammad Rasoulof, "The Seed of the Sacred Fig"
Best Actor: Jesse Plemons, "Kinds of Kindness"
Best Actress: Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Selena Gomez, "Emilia Perez"
Camera d’Or: "Armand"
Special Mention: Chiang Wei Liang, "Mongrel"
Short Film Palme d’Or: "The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent"
Special Mention: Daniel Soares, "Bad For a Moment"