Cannes 2018: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters wins Palme d'Or, BlacKkKlansman gets Grand Prix
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's masterpiece Shoplifters was awarded the Palme d’Or at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival. The jury, which was led by Cate Blanchett, announced the winners of various awards at this year's festival during the closing ceremony on Saturday.
Shoplifters revolves around a small-time thief, who takes a young girl home to his family. They notice abusive scars all over the little girl and decide to keep her and raise her as their own family member.
Other significant films that received recognition for cinematic excellence included Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum.
Spike Lee’s anti-Trump comedy BlacKkKlansman was the runner-up, receiving the Grand Prix. The film also happens to be the highest-profile American film in the competition. It tells the true story of a black police detective who manages to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
Despite gaining massive applause and a huge standing ovation, the movie failed to gain valuable critical reviews.
As for Labaki’s Capernaum, the Lebanese director was awarded Cannes Jury Prize. Best director was awarded to Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski for Cold War - a follow up to his Oscar-winning movie Ida.
Samal Yeslyamova won best actress for Ayka, which was written by Sergey Dvortsevoy. Marcello Fonte won best actor for Matteo Garrone’s Dogman.
Best screenplay was a tie between Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro, and Nader Saeivar and Jafar Panahi’s Three Faces.
French-Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard was awarded the first ever Palme d’Or Speciale for “continually striving to define and refine what cinema can be".
As for the Palme d'Or, last year's winner was Ruben Ostlund’s The Square - a film that also went on to bag a nomination for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards.
