Cannes Film Festival Jury Announces New 2021 Winners List

Cannes Festival Jury President Spike Lee — the first Black person to hold that position in the festival’s 74-year history — announced the 2021 Cannes Film Festival prizes and the list of winning films and filmmakers. In a night full of surprises, Lee announced the Palme d’Or winner Titane before the other awards and the jury and guests were quickly hoping to steer the show back on track.

Titane‘s French director Julia Ducournau introduced a radical horror concept film focused on a serial killer impregnated by a car who conceals her gender and goes anonymous as a lonesome fireman’s estranged son. Ducournau stated that “the world is becoming more and more fluid,” as she thanked the jury for the award, embracing inclusivity and “…for letting the monsters in.”

Best actress at Cannes went to Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve for her portrayal in The Worst Person in the World, a film about a woman who is incredibly indecisive and pulled between lovers, career, and a desire to have children.

Leos Carax was awarded the director award for his kaleidoscopic rock opera Annette, which is a tragic musical about a high-profile celebrity couple starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. The couple’s demanding schedules and wires crossing creates chaos in their relationship. Carax shared on casting for the film stating to Deadline,

“Adam was there from the beginning, and it took us seven years and three different producers to get the film going. I had only seen him in the series Girls. I had immediately thought, Where does this creature come from? From what parallel dimension? And yet I felt I knew him and would know how to film him.

It was harder to find the actress: someone who could act, sing, be the part, and whom I would want to film. Marion was not an obvious choice, but she turned out to be a great one. She has the mystery and grace of a silent film actress.”

Camera d’Or one of the most coveted of awards was presented to Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic’s Murina, a Croatian coming-of-age story about a young female Julija (Gracija Filipović), reconciling her passion for a stranger (Cliff Curtis) who arrives on her secluded island of Croatia which is then fueled by violence and desire.

The jury gave the Grand Prix to two films in a tie, Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6.

The entire list of winners can be found below.

Palme d’Or: Titane, Julia Ducournau

Actor: Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram

Actress: Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World

Director: Leos Carax, Annette

Grand Prix: A Hero, Asghar Farhadi and Compartment No. 6, Juho Kuosmanen

Jury Prize: Ahed’s Knee, Nadav Lapid and Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Screenplay: Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe

Palm Dog: The Souvenir II, Snowbear, Rosie, and Dora (accepted on their behalf by Tilda Swinton)

Camera d’Or: “Murina,” Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic

Short Films Palme d’Or: “All the Crows in the World,” Tang Yi

The 2021 Un Certain Regard winners’ list 

Refocused on the discovery of emerging filmmakers, the 2021 Un Certain Regard has offered twenty features in its competition. Six of them were first films that compete as well for the Caméra d’or. The opening film was Arthur Harari’s Onoda – 10 000 nights in the jungle.

Lead by the director and screenwriter Andrea Arnold, the Jury was made up of the director and screenwriter Mounia Meddour, the actress Elsa Zylberstein, the director and screenwriter Daniel Burman, and Michael Covino, director, and actor.

Un Certain Regard Prize
Razzhimaya Kulaki (Unclenching The Fists / Les Poings Désserrés)
directed by Kira KOVALENKO

Jury Prize
Die Grosse Freiheit (Great Freedom)
directed by Sebastian MEISE

Ensemble Prize
Bonne Mère (Good Mother)
directed by Hafsia HERZI

Courage Prize
La Civil 
directed by Teodora Ana MIHAI 

Prize of Originality
Lamb
directed by Valdimar JÓHANNSSON

Special Mention 
Noche de Fuego (Prayers for the Stolen)
directed by Tatiana HUEZO