The film Titane by director Julia Ducournau was awarded the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. The Frenchwoman is the second female director in the 74-year history of the prestigious film gala to receive the prize, after Jane Campion (1993, Piano).
The award ceremony was remarkable. The American director Spike Lee, this year’s jury chairman, revealed all that at the beginning of the ceremony when asked “who will receive the first prize”. Titane had won the Palme d’Or.
Watch the moment here:
Then there was confusion in the room. In the end, the award ceremony continued with the award for best actor. The 37-year-old Ducournau only came on stage when Titane was later officially announced as the winner.
Titane is a thriller with horror elements about a female serial killer who pretends to be a man to escape the police. In addition, she has a sexual fascination with metal, and cars in particular. The film was praised beforehand for its originality and energy.
In recent years, there has been a lot of criticism about the lack of female representation at the French festival. Actresses such as Cate Blanchett and Salma Hayek took to the red carpet to protest gender inequality in 2018. Cannes promised improvement, but critics saw little of it in return. The number of female directors competing for the top prize was still quite limited.
No prices for Dutch people
At this year’s edition, Dutch people were also nominated. Paul Verhoeven made with his film Benedetta, about the love between two lesbian nuns, chance to win the prize. Gijs Naber was in the race for the prize for best actor, as the lead actor in The Story of My Wife. Both were out of the question.
Last year the Cannes Film Festival was canceled due to the corona pandemic. In 2019, the Golden Palm went to South Korean director Bong Joon-ho for parasite. That film was later awarded the Oscar for best picture.