The 2025 Cannes Film Festival Winners Have Been Chosen

The 78th Cannes Film Festival, which showcased a troubled world through cinema, went largely smoothly, according to Variety. However, the festival hosted a day of films paying tribute to Ukraine, included political thrillers in the competition section, and screened inflammatory films about anti-Israel and the massacre in Gaza in various sections. However, a widespread power outage that swept the entire region on the final day of the festival, disrupting film screenings and confusing attendees, was also a side effect of the festival

Fortunately, the festival had backup generators running, allowing the closing ceremony to continue at the Palais des Festivals, allowing Juliette Binoche, the president of the jury, and eight other film stars to take the stage to present their awards

The Grand Prix, the second most important award after the Palme d’Or, went to Joachim Trier’s family drama “Sentimental Value,” about a filmmaker’s attempt to mend his relationship with his actress daughter, which involves her in his most personal film

Nadia Meleti, who starred in “Little Sister,” won the Best Actress award. The Best Actor award went to Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent,” in which he played a father who hides his identity while trying to escape assassination during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Cléber Mendonça Filho also won the Best Director award for the same film

The Best Screenplay award went to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for “Young Mothers”

The Jury Prize was shared between Spanish director Olivier Lax for “Sirat” and German director Masha Zhilinsky for “The Sound of Falling”

The jury also awarded a special prize to Chinese director Bei Gan for “Resurrection”

Alice Rohrwacher presented the Golden Camera Award, honoring a director’s first feature film, to Hassan Hadi, director of “President’s Cake.” Hadi became the first Iraqi to win a Cannes award for a film

In addition to Binoche, this year’s jury, which is mostly female, included Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, French-Moroccan writer Leila Soleimani, American stars Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, Mexican director Carlos Reygadas, and Congolese filmmaker Dioudo Hammadi

The full list of award winners is as follows

Main Competition:

Palme d’Or winner: “A Simple Accident” by Jafar Panahi

Grand Prize: “Sentimental Value” by Joachim Trier

Director: Cléber Mendonça Filho for “The Secret Agent”

Best Actor: Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent”

Best Actress: Nadia Meleti for “The Little Sister”

Jury Prize: Shared with Olivier Laxé for “Sirret” and Masha Zhilinsky for “The Sound of Falling”

Special Prize: “Resurrection” by Bei Gan

Screenplay: The Dardenne Brothers for “Young Mothers”

Other Awards

Golden Camera: “The President’s Cake”, Hassan Hadi

Special Mention in the Golden Camera category: “The Shadow of My Father”, Akinola Davis Jr.

Golden Palm for Short Film: “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now”, Tawfiq Barhoum

Special Mention in the Short Film category: “Ali” by Adnan Al-Rajiv

Golden Eye Documentary Award: “Imago” by Danny Omar Pitsaev

Golden Eye Special Jury Award: “The Six Billion Dollar Man” by Eugene Jarky

Palme d’Or: Panda in “The Love That Remains”

Fipresci Prize in Competition: “The Secret Agent” by Cléber Mendonça Filho

Fipresci Prize in Un Certain Regard: “The Hedgehog” by Harris Dickinson

Fipresci Prize in Parallel Sections: “The Dandelion Odyssey” by Momoko Seto

Un Certain Regard Awards

Main Award: “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” by Diego Cespedes

Jury Award: “The Poet” by Simon Mesa Soto

Best Director Award: Tarzan and Arab Nasser for “Once Upon a Time in Gaza”

Best Actor Award: Cleo Diarra for “I Only Calm Down in the Storm” / Frank Dillane for “The Hedgehog”

Best Screenplay: Harry Leighton for “Zane”

Directors’ Week Awards

European Cinema Label: “Wild Foxes” by Valery Carnoy

Drama Writers’ and Composers’ Guild Award: “Wild Foxes” by Valery Carnoy

Audience’s Choice Award: “The President’s Cake” by Hassan Hadi

Critics’ Week Awards

Grand Prize: “A Useful Soul” by Rachabom Bonbonchakok

French Touch Award: “Imagine” by Danny Omar Pitsaev

GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: “The Left-Handed Girl” by Lou Paquet

Rising Star Award: Theodore Pellerin for “Nino”

Lights Cinema Discovery Award (Short): “Lamina,” by Randa Marouf

Story Writers’ and Composers’ Guild Award: Guillermo Gallo and Victor Alonso-Berbel for “Sleepless City”

Overall Section: “From Dust and Dust” by Michel van der Ra