Under heavy rain, the stars, photographers, journalists and some of our blogger friends went for one last time to the Théâtre Lumière on the famous La Croisette beachfront for the last red carpet of the 2012 Cannes Festival. The closing ceremony opened its doors at 7:15 pm Sunday 27 May 2012 to announce the results of this fortnight of world cinema and announce the verdict of the jury chaired by Nanni Moretti.
With an admittedly highly disappointing selection, especially after the extraordinary flood of talent in 2011, everyone had their own prediction of who would win the 2012 Palme d’Or. Some were convinced from the start it would be De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone) by Jacques Audiard by a long mile, others were bowled over by Haneke and his homage to timeless love Amour, many bet on puzzling Holy Motors by Leos Carax as one of the best tributes ever made to cinema…full stop! Vous n’avez encore rien vu (You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet) by Alain Resnais got mixed reviews but remains in pole position for devotees of the genre. As for Mud, the last film screened in the competition, it brought freshness and simplicity that is so far sorely missing from this selection. Which puts it in the running in the eyes of those disillusioned by boring, depressing films and over-stretched metaphors. All the films in this year’s competition were made by males, which is perhaps the reason for the lack of charm in this selection…
2012 Cannes Festival Winners
> Bérénice Béjo, master of ceremonies opened the ball and called on Kylie Minogue to present the Short Film Palme d’Or to Silence (Sessiz Be Deng) by L. Rezan Yesilbas
> Ludivine Sagnier, Carlos Saura and Carlos Diegues presented the Golden Camera Award to Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benzh Zeitlin in the “Un Certain Regard” competition.
> Jury chairman Nanni Moretti took the stage to welcome the other jury members: Diane Kruger, Emmanuelle Devos, Hiam Abbass, Andrea Arnold, Ewan Mc Gregor, Alexander Payne, Raoul Peck and Jean-Paul Gaultier
> Patrick Bruel came on stage to present the Jury Prize to The Angel’s Share by Ken Loach
> Nastassja Kinski presented Best Screenplay to Beyond the Hills (Dupã Dealuri) by Christian Mungiu
> Tim Roth and Leila Bekhti, respectively the chairman and jury member for this year’s “Un Certain Regard” category, presented Best Screenplay to Post Tenebras Lux (Light After Darkness) by Carlos Reygadas
> Gong Lee presented the Male Interpretation Award to Mads Mikkelsen for his role in The Hunt (Jagten) by Thomas Vinterberg
> Alec Baldwin presented the Female Interpretation Award to Christina Stratan and Cristina Flutur for their roles in Beyond the Hills (Dupã Dealuri) by Christian Mungiu
> Leila Hatami presented Jury Prize to Reality by Matteo Garrone
> Audrey Tautou and Adrian Brody presented the Palme d’Or to Michael Haneke for Amour
Palme D'Or for 'Amour', Austrian director Michael Haneke flanked by actress Emmanuelle Riva and actor Jean-Louis Trintignant posing at the Winners Photocall closing the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 27, 2012 in Cannes, France. Photo by Frederic Nebinger/http://ABACAPRESS.COM
check out other pictures of the 65th Cannes film festival here
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