CANNES 2011

2011 Cannes Film Festival Winners - 'Tree of Life' Takes Palme d'Or

by Alex Billington
May 23, 2011
Source: Official Website

The 2011 Cannes Film Festival awards winners were announced on Sunday evening in France. As we've been following the fest closely this year, I was curious to see who would win, and it indeed was Terrence Malick's year, as his abstract new film The Tree of Life took home the coveted Palme d'Or. Additionally, Kirsten Dunst from Melancholia, directed by since banned filmmaker Lars von Trier, won Best Acting. I've seen the film and she deserves it, so congrats. The jury included: Robert De Niro, Olivier Assayas, Martina Gusman, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, Johnnie To and Linn Ullmann. Read on for a full winners list!

Here's the complete list of 2011 Cannes Film Festival winners. Head to the official Cannes website for more.

Palme d'Or (Golden Palm):
The Tree of Life directed by Terrence Malick

Grand Prix (Runners Up):
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
The Kid With a Bike directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

Best Director:
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive (Review)

Jury Prize:
Polisse directed by Maïwenn

Best Screenplay:
Joseph Cedar for Footnote

Camera d'Or (First-Time Filmmaker):
Las Acacias directed by Pablo Giorgelli (in Critics' Week)

Best Leading Actor (Tie):
Jean Dujardin in Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist (Review)

Best Leading Actress:
Kirsten Dunst in Lars von Trier's Melancholia (Review)

Un Certain Regard Prize:
Arirang directed by Kim Ki-Duk
Halt auf freier Strecke (Stopped on Track) directed by Andreas Dresen

Special Jury Prize:
Elena directed by Andrey Zvyaginstev

Best Director:
Mohammad Rasoulof for Bé omid é didar (Good Bye)

Congratulations to all of the winners from the 64th Cannes Film Festival. It was an exciting and fantastic year this year and I was so happy to be a part of it. I'm satisfied with The Tree of Life winning, although I didn't expect it, because Cannes has a tendency to sometimes choose the very odd titles for the Palme, like Uncle Boonmee last year. I'm also very happy to see The Artist win an award, one of my favorites of the fest, as well as Drive, which was the last film I saw yet also my very favorite film of the fest. As is usually the case, there are some weird picks like Footnote, which pretty much no one liked, as well as Once Upon A Time In Anatolia tying for Grand Prix, as I heard no buzz about it at all, but it's still a strong set of winners.

I'm still planning on seeing Tree of Life a second time to really take it in and write a full review, as its grown on me since first seeing it. For a full list of release cities and info, visit Fox Searchlight. Another Cannes Film Festival comes to a close, but it was a great year with a lot of great films that will continue to be buzzed about once they make their way over to the US next. You can find all of Alex's Cannes 2011 coverage here.

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