The Jury of the 68th Cannes Film Festival, presided by Joel and Ethan Coen picked DHEEPAN by Jacques Audiard (pictured above) the winner of Palme d’or award.  In the film, “to escape the civil war in Sri Lanka, a former soldier, a young woman and a little girl pose as a family. They end up settling in a housing project outside Paris. They barely know one another, but try to build a life together.”

After receiving the prize, presented by the actress Cécile de France and the two Presidents of the Feature Films Jury, Joel and Ethan Coen, Jacques Audiard said: “I am very moved. I knew it would have an effect on me. I’d like to thank Michael Haneke for not filming this year. I’d also like to thank my actors, without whom there would be no film, nor a Palme d’or. Receiving a prize from the Coen brothers is just incredible! Alexandre Dumas’ son spoke about his father as “this child I had so young”. Tonight, I’m thinking of my father”.

The Grand Prix, considered the runner up prize, was awarded to Saul Fia (Son of Saul) by László Nemes. Described as “October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the corpse of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child’s body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner’s Kaddish and offer the boy a proper burial.”

After he had received the prize from the Danish actor, Mads Mikkelsen, László Nemes declared: ” This was my first time in Cannes. We wanted this film to tell the new generation about the destruction of European Jews, I’m happy to have made this film using roll. It’s the magic of cinema! ”

The complete list of winners of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival awards

FEATURE FILMS – COMPETITION

Palme d’or
DHEEPAN by Jacques Audiard
Grand Prix
SAUL FIA (Son of Saul) by László Nemes

Best Director Award
Hou Hsiao-Hsien for NIE YINNIANG (The Assassin)

Jury Prize
THE LOBSTER by Yorgos Lanthimos

Best Actress Award
Rooney Mara in CAROL by Todd Haynes
Emmanuelle Bercot in MON ROI by MAÏWENN

Best Actor Award
Vincent Lindon in LA LOI DU MARCHÉ (The Measure of a Man) by Stéphane Brizé

Best Screenplay Award
Michel Franco for CHRONIC

SHORT FILMS – COMPETITION

Palme d’or
WAVES ’98 by Ely Dagher

UN CERTAIN REGARD

UN CERTAIN REGARD AWARD
HRÚTAR (Rams) by Grímur Hákonarson

JURY PRIZE
ZVIZDAN (The High Sun) by Dalibor Matanić

BEST DIRECTOR PRIZE
Kiyoshi Kurosawa for KISHIBE NO TABI (Journey to the Shore)

UN CERTAIN TALENT PRIZE
COMOARA (Treasure) by Corneliu Porumboiu

Joint PROMISING FUTURE PRIZE
MASAAN (Fly Away Solo) by Neeraj Ghaywan
NAHID by Ida Panahandeh

CAMÉRA D’OR
LA TIERRA Y LA SOMBRA (Land and Shade) by César Augusto Acevedo

CINÉFONDATION
First Prize
SHARE by Pippa Bianco
AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, USA

Second Prize
LOCAS PERDIDAS (Lost Queens) by Ignacio Juricic Merillán
Carrera de Cine y TV Universidad de Chile, Chile

Joint Third Prize
THE RETURN OF ERKIN by Maria Guskova
High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, Russia

Joint Third Prize
VICTOR XX by Ian Garrido López
ESCAC, Spain

The Jury of the CST awarded the VULCAN AWARD OF THE TECHNICAL ARTIST to:
Tamas ZANYI, sound engineer, for the outstanding contribution of sound to the narration of SAUL FIA (Son of Saul) by László NEMES.