The Grand Prix of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the event’s second-highest award, was given to “Minotaur,” a film by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The announcement was made at the festival’s closing ceremony.
While accepting the award, Andrey Zvyagintsev used his speech to address Vladimir Putin and ask him to stop the war.
“There is one person to whom I would like to address my words today on my own behalf. He does not use a VPN to watch this ceremony live. I am sure he now has a much more important issue to resolve, but I know that there are people in his circle who know how to pass these words on to him. And these are the words. Millions of people on both sides of the line of contact now dream of only one thing. That the countless killings of people finally stop. And the only person who can stop this meat grinder is you, Mr. President of the Russian Federation. Put an end to this slaughter. The whole world is waiting for it,” Andrey Zvyagintsev said.
“Minotaur” is Zvyagintsev’s first film since 2017. It was shot in Latvia in Russian. The plot is based on Claude Chabrol, offering a new interpretation of the 1969 film “The Unfaithful Wife.”
Zvyagintsev and his new co-writer Semyon Lyashenko reconstruct the story in a way that turns it from a distinctly French one into something much closer to home: a story of 2022, the period of the “special military operation” and mobilization.
The Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, went to “Fjord,” a drama by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu.
The Jury Prize was awarded to Valeska Grisebach for “Dream Adventure.” The award for best director was shared by Pawel Pawlikowski, who made “Vaterland,” and the creators of “Black Ball,” Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi.
The award for best screenplay went to Emmanuel Marre, the director and screenwriter of “A Man of His Time.” The prize for best actor was awarded to Emmanuel Makkia and Valentin Campagne for Lucas Dhont’s “Coward.” The best actress award went to Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for their roles in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Suddenly.”