Quoi? Well, this was a one-off addition to the standard suite of seven awards – perhaps because none of the remaining options, for acting, directing and so on, seemed quite substantial enough. Rasoulof was only able to attend Cannes in person after having fled Iran in secret a few weeks ago to escape an eight-year prison sentence for speaking out against the ruling state: Gerwig’s jury were right to make it worth the trip.
Leaks from the jury room over the last few days suggested strident minority support for Emilia Pérez, an outlandish musical thriller from France’s Jacques Audiard about a Mexican gang boss who evades capture by having a gender reassignment op. In the end, that manifested in two prizes: the Prix du Jury and Best Actress, which was split among the ensemble. The film isn’t among Audiard’s best, but it’s hard to imagine another filmmaker wading into this epically controversial subject with such fearlessness and verve.
All in all, it was the best kind of closing ceremony, with results that felt both surprising and just, and which made an irresistible argument for cinema as a unifying force.