The 78th Cannes Film Festival stood out not only with Jafar Panahi’s Un Simple Accident winning the Palme d’Or but also with its tributes to Palestinian journalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed in Gaza, and the film world’s collective stand against silence. This year, the festival was marked by powerful messages that viewed art as not just aesthetic but deeply political.
Held in the French city of Cannes, the 78th edition of the festival unfolded in an atmosphere where political statements and moral stances took center stage, going far beyond a mere celebration of cinema. With French actress Juliette Binoche as jury president, the festival’s highest honor, the Palme d’Or, was awarded to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for his film Un Simple Accident, which will be released in France on September 10.
Highlights from Cannes
Other major awards in the main competition included Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho receiving Best Director for L’Agent Secret (The Secret Agent). The Jury Prize was shared between Spanish director Olivier Laxe for Sirat and German director Mascha Schilinski for Sound of Falling. Norwegian director Joachim Trier won the Grand Prix for Valeur Sentimentale (Sentimental Value).
The Best Screenplay Award went to the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, for Jeunes Mères (Young Mothers). Acting awards were given to Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (Best Actor) for L’Agent Secret, and French actress Nadia Melliti (Best Actress) for her role in La Petite Dernière.
The Jury Special Prize was awarded to Chinese director Bi Gan for Resurrection, while the Caméra d’Or (Best First Feature) went to Iraqi director Hasan Hadi for The President’s Cake. The Short Film Palme d’Or was awarded to Palestinian filmmaker Tawfeek Barhom for I’m Glad You’re Dead Now.
A Red Carpet Call for Peace and Diversity
Throughout the festival, messages of solidarity with Gaza and reactions to the ongoing atrocities there came to the fore. Ahead of the event, over a hundred filmmakers and actors signed an open letter published in Libération titled “The Horror in Gaza Must Not Be Silenced at Cannes.”
During the opening ceremony on May 13, jury president Juliette Binoche paid tribute to Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike: “She learned just a day before her death that the film she appeared in had been selected for Cannes. Fatma should have been with us tonight.”
The documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, in which Hassona starred, was screened on May 15 as part of the official selection.
Cannes Speaks Out: “Stop Israel”
On May 20, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange attended the special screening of the documentary The Six Billion Dollar Man, wearing a shirt bearing the names of 4,986 children who died in Gaza. The back of the shirt read: “Stop Israel.”
Olivier Laxe, who won the Jury Prize for Sirat, recalled in his speech a verse from the Qur’an shared by a Palestinian taxi driver he met in East Jerusalem: “We created you into peoples and tribes so that you may know one another.”
He concluded with, “Long live diversity, long live cultures, and long live the Cannes Film Festival,” receiving a standing ovation. Tawfeek Barhom, winner of the Short Film Palme d’Or, shared this hopeful message about Gaza in his speech: “France is a wonderful place for artists. I hope that when we return to Gaza in 20 years, we won’t have to think about the dead anymore.”
Power Outage at Cannes
On the final day of the festival, a technical issue disrupted events: a widespread power outage affected approximately 160,000 homes in Cannes and surrounding areas. The screening of Sirat was cut short due to the blackout, but the awards ceremony went ahead as planned.
