Cannes Film Festival winners 2016

CANNES: Here are the winners from the 2016 Cannes film festival, as chosen by a jury led by Australian director and “Mad Max” creator George Miller:

Palme d’Or: “I, Daniel Blake”

British Director Ken Loach won over the jury with his moving tale of a carpenter (Dave Johns) who suffers repeated humiliations as he seeks welfare benefits after having a heart attack.

Grand Prix: “It’s Only The End of The World”

Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan’s film was booed by some critics but the jury felt it deserved second place in Cannes for his fraught family drama.

It is the latest in a string of Cannes honours for the 27-year-old director who won the third-placed Jury Prize in 2014 for “Mommy”.

Jury Prize: “American Honey”

Britain’s Andrea Arnold came in third with “American Honey”, starring Shia LaBeouf as the leader of a group of disaffected US teens selling magazines door-to-door.

A throbbing soundtrack accompanies the youths on their slow-paced road trip, with plenty of marijuana smoking, drinking and falling in love.

Best actor: Shahab Hosseini in “The Salesman”

The Iranian actor won for his role as a man struggling to come to terms with an attack on his wife in their home.

He sets out on a revenge mission while she tries to regain the upper hand and deal with the assault in her own manner.

Best actress: Jaclyn Jose in “Ma’ Rosa”

Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose won best actress for her mesmerising performance as a mother forced to sell drugs to survive before falling prey to corrupt police.

Best director: Cristian Mungiu and Olivier Assayas

The best director award was shared between Romania’s Cristian Mungiu and France’s Olivier Assayas.

Mungiu shines a light on the post-communist social rot in his homeland in “Graduation”, about a father trying to ensure his daughter can escape Romania’s corruption with a scholarship to a British university.

Assayas won for “Personal Shopper” starring Kristen Stewart, a movie that is an audacious mix of ghost story, murder mystery and existential drama. Critics, however, booed it.

Best screenplay: Asghar Farhadi

The Iranian director, who won an Oscar in 2012 for “A Separation”, won best screenplay for “The Salesman”.

– AFP