Cannes film festival wraps with French triumph
French director Laurent Cantet's 'The Class' wind festival's Palme d'Or. Israel's 'Waltz With Bashir' goes unrecognized despite rave reviews
Israeli director Ari Folman was left disappointed at the Cannes film festival, after his animated documentary Waltz With Bashir failed to win any of the festival's prizes, despite being favored by critics.
The movie was praised for its haunting retelling of a conscript's efforts to dig up buried memories of the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Beirut's refugee camps, but still went unrecognized.
Cannes goers hailed the first French victory at the Cannes film festival in 21 years, after the acclaimed classroom drama "Entre Les Murs" (The Class) won the Palme d'Or for best picture, late Sunday.night.
The Class is a naturalistic portrayal of a tough Parisian high school where a teacher battles to maintain discipline, and touches on hot issues in France such as overcrowded classes and immigrant youth, although the film is not overtly political.
Winners of Cannes film festival (Photo: AFP)
"I can never remember a clearer winner," said Mark Cousins, a film critic and Cannes veteran, adding that the movie had helped rescue an otherwise generally flat competition."Twenty minutes into the film I thought this had to be the Palme d'Or winner since it was a work of such exception."
Other winners included Benicio del Toro, for best actor as Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara; Sandra Corveloni for best actress in the Brazilian drama Linha de Passe; and Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylanm who was crowned best director for Three Monkeys.
Ynetnews contributed to this report
