Palme d'Or

 Asian cinema tonight emerged as the surprise winner of this year’s Cannes film festival when a lyrically beautiful and often surreal Thai movie took the Palme d’Or. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. It is the first Asian Palme d’Or winner since Kiarostami shared it with Japanese film maker Shohei Imamura in 1997.

While young Quebec filmmaker Xavier Dolan (Les amours Imaginaires) didn’t leave Cannes empty handed, he accepted the “Regards jeunes” prize on Saturday awarded by a European jury of seven young cinephiles. Also the actor to beat was Javier Bardem and as the saying goes if you can’t beat him join him - Elio Germano did just that in sharing the title of best actor.

Here are the winners from the films Offically Selected “In Competition”

Palme d’Or (Golden Palm): “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)

Grand Prize:“Of Gods and Men” by Xavier Beauvois (France)

Jury Prize:“A Screaming Man” by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad)

Best Actor:Javier Bardem, “Biutiful” (Mexico) and Elio Germano, “La Nostra Vita” (Italy)

Best Director:Mathieu Amalric for “On Tour” (France)

Best Actress:Juliette Binoche, “Certified Copy” (Iran)

Best Screenplay: Lee Chang-Dong, “Poetry” (Korea)

Camera d’Or (first-time director): “Ano Bisiesto” by Michael Rowe (Mexico)

Congratulations to all and I’m already looking forward to next year!