“Anora,” a much-admired comedy about a New York strip club dancer (Mikey Madison) and her impulsive romance with the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn), won the Palme d'Or, the most prestigious award. awarded by the Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Sean Baker, whose two previous features, 2017's “The Florida Project” and 2021's “Red Rocket,” also debuted at Cannes, “Anora” marks the first Palme win for an American filmmaker since Life” by Terrence Malick took the award in 2011.
Writing about the festival's “Anora,” Times deputy arts and entertainment editor Matt Brennan described the film as “so electric it's likely to leave you levitating.”
In accepting the award, Baker was frank in his love for the theatrical experience and scathing in his assessment of “half-heartedly paying attention” to streaming, which he called “just not the way, even though some tech companies would like us to.” “We thought like that.” And he added: “The future of cinema is where it began: in a movie theater.”
This year's Cannes jury was headed by “Barbie” and “Lady Bird” filmmaker Greta Gerwig, a proud cinephile who was expected to spread the wealth generously. She did it in collaboration with her jury, a group that included actors Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) and Eva Green (“Casino Royale”) and directors Hirokazu Kore-eda and Spaniard Juan Antonio Bayonne.
The Grand Prix, Cannes' second prize, went to Payal Kapadia's “All We Imagine as Light,” the first Indian film to compete in three decades. A special award was created for Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof, whose political thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” a bold effort made in secret, was predicted to prevail in many quarters. “Grand Tour,” an evocative period drama set in several Asian countries, took the directing prize for Portuguese director Miguel Gomes.
The Cannes acting awards, which typically do not honor supporting performances, were also generously awarded this year. The best actress award went to the women of “Emilia Pérez,” co-starring Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and trans protagonist Karla Sofía Gascón, who shared the honor jointly. The best actor award was won by Jesse Plemons for his work in “Kinds of Kindness” by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Demi Moore, a strong acting contender for her aging Hollywood nightmare “The Substance,” did not prevail, although her film, a festival standout, won the screenplay prize for its writer-director, Frenchwoman Coralie Fargeat.
