Brazil takes top honour

Cannes Un Certain Regard sidebar reveals winners

by Richard Mowe

The team from The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao by director Karim Aïnouz (third left) who received the Un Certain Regard award
The team from The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao by director Karim Aïnouz (third left) who received the Un Certain Regard award Photo: Festival de Cannes

The sidebar Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival’s official selection has announced its prizewinners tonight (24 May) with the Un Certain Regard accolade going to the Brazilian entry The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao by director Karim Aïnouz.

The film tells the story of the courageous Euridice Gusmão, born in Rio de Janeiro to Portuguese expatriates during the 1920s. Extremely resourceful, she is a woman with ambitious goals. However, neither her parents nor her husband, Antenor – an earnest yet stern bank employee – are supportive of her many inventive endeavours.

Other wins from the 18 films in competition, after deliberation by a jury headed by Lebanese director and actress and actor Nadine Labaki, are a jury prize to Q Que Are/Fire Will Come by Oliver Laxe; best performance award for Chiara Mastrioianni in Christophe Honoré’s On A Magical Night/Chamber 212; best director award for Kantemir Balagov for Beanpole; special jury prize for Albert Serra’s Liberté, and special shared accolades for the jury’s coup de coeur: Monia Chokri’s A Brother’s Love/La femme De Mon Frère (the opening film) and The Climb by Michael Angelo Covino.

The jury gave a special mention to Bruno Dumont’s Joan Of Arc/Jeanne.

An emotional Chiara Mastroianni claimed: ""It's the first time I've won a prize and I'm very surprised, very moved. I just thought I was coming along with Christophe, so I'm really speechless."

Labanki said: “I would like to express the great pleasure we had diving into the diversity of this selection. This on many levels: on the subjects, on the way cinematic tools were used and on the portrayal of its characters.

"It was very stimulating to have seen, side by side, filmmakers that master their language so well and others still finding their way to mastery. It was a nice surprise to see nine first features in the Un Certain Regard Official Selection. We were honoured to be transported into all these different universes. World cinema remains very much alive and in good shape!”

The Invisible Life of Eruidice Gusmao
The Invisible Life of Eruidice Gusmao Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

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