Godard wins first Cannes award
83-year-old French director awarded joint Jury Prize, while little-known Turkish director wins Palme D’Or
LITTLE-KNOWN Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan picked up his fifth award at the Cannes Film Festival as his film Winter Sleep won the prestigious Palme D’Or, while the jury finally recognised French cinema legend Jean-Luc Godard.
Despite his relative anonymity, Mr Ceylan is a favourite with Cannes’ judges. He was awarded the Grand Jury Prize in 2003 for Uzak and in 2011 for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. Meanwhile 2006’s Climates won the FIPRESCI Prize, and he won the directing award in 2008 for Three Monkeys.
The choice of Winter Sleep was widely anticipated, but other winners prompted surprise, and there was recognition for Jean-Luc Godard, who picked up his first Cannes award at the age of 83.
The French director picked up a joint Grand Jury Award as the judges decided to split the prize between his Goodbye to Language and 25-year-old Canadian director Xavier Dolan for his Oedipal comedy Mommy.
Julianne Moore was named best actress for her diva performance in David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, while Timothy Spall won the best actor prize for his role as JMW Turner in Mike Leigh’s period drama Mr Turner.
Italian director Alice Rohrwacher took the runner-up Grand Prix award for The Wonders; The American film-maker Bennett Miller was named best director for Foxcatcher - which stars Steve Carell in a rare dramatic role; and Andrei Zvyaginstev picked up the screenplay prize for Leviathan.
Image: Goodbye to Language official trailer / screengrab
