The much-anticipated awards ceremony marks the culmination of the Cannes Film Festival, the glamour-bedecked spectacle on the Cote d’Azur. Amongst the winners were Diane Kruger, who received Best Actress for her role in “In The Fade”, Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev who won the Jury Prize for “Loveless” and Joaquin Phoenix who won Best Actor for his performance in “You Were Never Really Here”. Most notable of the recipients, however, was Sofia Coppola who joined the history books for becoming the second woman in the festival’s history to receive the Best Director accolade for “The Beguiled,” a remake of a Southern gothic set during the Civil War, starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. While Coppola was unable to accept the award in person, juror Maren Ade accepted it on her behalf and relayed Coppola’s gratitude to her parents, the director Jane Campion for being “a role model and supporting women filmmakers” and Focus Features for “for their support of women-driven films.” Congratulations to Coppola and here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 56 years for a female director’s work to be recognized in this arena.
