After twelve days of competition for the 21 feature films selected, its jury led by the french actor Vincent Lindon presented the prizes, this Saturday, May 28 during a closing ceremony hosted by Belgian Star Virginie Efira.

The satire “The Triangle of Sadness” from the Swedish director Ruben Östlund, won the Palme d’Or at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. A blunt, ugly send-up of class politics, - about a luxury cruise where the people on the bottom get the chance to supplant the billionaires - the movie had sharply divided critics, but offers finally a new consecration for Ruben Östlund. The Swedish director had already received the supreme award in 2017 with "The Square", in which he fired red balls at the world of contemporary art.

Thus, Ruben Östlund joins eight other directors to have won the Palme twice: Francis Ford Coppola (1974 and 1979), Shoei Imamura (1983 and 1997), Bille August (1988 and 1992), Emir Kusturica (1985 and 1995), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (1999 and 2005), Michael Haneke (2009 and 2012) and Ken Loach (2006 and 2016).

Iranian Surprise

The Best Actress Prize went to Zar Amir Ebrahimi, the star of the true-crime drama “Holy Spider”, from the Iranian-born director Ali Abbasi. She plays a journalist who faces the indifference and misogyny of the police as she tracks down a serial killer.

"I have come a long way to be on this stage tonight," said Ebrahimi, who now lives in Paris. "It was not an easy story.

"This film is about women, it's about their bodies, it's a movie full of faces, hair, hands, feet, breasts, sex -- everything that is impossible to show in Iran," she added.

The Best Actor Prize was given to Song Kang-ho, the brilliant South Korean actor, for his sensitive, soulful performance as a baby trafficker in “Broker”, the latest from the Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda.

A Belgian heartbreaker

The Grand Prix — the festival’s second prize — was split between “Close” directed by the Belgian Lukas Dhont, and “Stars at Noon” directed by the French Claire Denis. While “Stars at Noon” was brutalized by critics, “Close” a critical and audience favorite about two 13-year-old boys whose friendship is tragically tested, drew warm applause from the Lumière Palace audience.

A Donkey’s Journey

The Jury Prize was split between two very different dramas: “EO”, a heartbreaker about a donkey from the Polish auteur Jerzy Skolimowski, and “The Eight Mountains”, a coming-of-age story from the Belgian filmmakers Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch. Skolimowski, 84 years old, began his acceptance speech by thanking (and naming) all six of his donkeys — including a little beauty called Taco!

For her part, Vandermeersch seemed to surprise her co-director and partner by repeatedly kissing him right before he started his acceptance speech!

The South Korean director Park Chan-wook won the Director Prize for “Decision to Leave”, an entertainingly twisty thriller, which was a favorite for film critics.

Special Prize for The Dardenne Brothers

A Special Prize to commemorate the festival’s 75th anniversary was given to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, who were in competition again with “Tori and Lokita”, about two undocumented African immigrants in a cruel, profoundly inhospitable Belgium. The Dardennes are among the most justly honored filmmakers in the history of Cannes, having won the Palme twice (for “Rosetta” in 1999 and “The Child” in 2005). An award extremely deserved!