By Miranda Murray
CANNES, France (Reuters) -“Anora,” a darkly funny and touching drama about a young exotic dancer who becomes involved with a Russian oligarch’s son, won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, on Saturday.
The film by U.S. director Sean Baker beat the 21 other films in the competition line-up, including entries by established directors like Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg.
“Anora” continues a streak of sex worker-focused films by Baker, including the 2021 Cannes entry “Red Rocket” and 2017’s “The Florida Project” starring Willem Dafoe.
This win is dedicated to “to all sex workers past present and future,” he said as he accepted the award, while also thanking the film’s star, Mikey Madison, as well as his wife and producer.
George Lucas, famous for “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” received an honorary award during the festival’s closing ceremony from his longtime friend Coppola, whose passion project “Megalopolis” had also been in competition.
“I’m just a kid who grew up in the middle of California, surrounded by vineyards, and made films in San Francisco with my friend Francis Coppola,” said Lucas at the ceremony.
The Grand Prix, the second-highest prize after the Palme d’Or, was awarded to “All We Imagine As Light,” the first Indian film in competition in 30 years about two women sharing an apartment and the challenges they face in a male-dominated society.
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who was in Cannes just about two weeks after announcing he had gone into exile, was given a special award for “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” about an Iranian court official who grows increasingly controlling and paranoid as protests begin to swell in 2022.
“Emilia Perez,” a musical about a Mexican cartel boss who transitions from male to female, was doubly honoured.
The film’s director Jacques Audiard received the jury prize on stage, while the best actress prize was shared between its female stars, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, Karla Sofia Gascon and Adriana Paz.
Jesse Plemons was named best actor for playing three different parts – a struggling police officer, a cult member and a man whose every action is controlled by his boss – in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ absurdist triptych “Kinds of Kindness.”
Best screenplay went to “The Substance,” a Demi Moore-led body horror about the perils of youth and beauty that director Coralie Fargeat said she hoped would help change the standards set for women.
Miguel Gomez took best director for “Grand Tour,” an eclectic trip through Asia by a British civil servant and his pursuing fiancee.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray. Editing by Jane Merriman)
