Written by Tom Deehan on May 23, 2016. Posted in General Interest

British Drama I, Daniel Blake scoops Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival 2016

The highly prestigious Palme d’Or has been awarded to British Director Ken Loach (Kes, The Wind That Shakes the Barley) for his film I, Daniel Blake which was shot on location in London and Newcastle. The film depicts a middle-aged man who is forced to seek out government benefits after suffering an injury at work, meanwhile befriending a young mother who is on the brink of homelessness.

Ken Loach wasn’t the only British filmmaker to win big after Andrea Arnold won the Jury Prize for her coming of age story American Honey, starring Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf. The film was shot in multiple American states including Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri.

Ben Roberts, Director of the BFI explains: “what a moment for British cinema and for two important and humane films with so much to say. Bravo to Ken and to Andrea and their collaborators - including the unstoppable Robbie Ryan who shot both films. This is cinema from the heart, and we’re grateful that we have an industry that can support such personal, powerful film-making.”

Two winners emerged triumphant for the Best Director award, with Olivier Assayas and Cristian Mungiu both being honoured for Personal Shopper and Graduation respectively. Despite being initially booed at Cannes, Personal Shopper has since seen praise from critics. The film was shot on location in France, the Czech Republic and Oman.

These announcements have trumped predicted frontrunners such as Maren Ade’s film, Toni Erdmann, a German comedy which was largely shot in Bucharest. A brand new film incentive for Romania was announced last week and is expected to offer a tax relief of up to 30%.

Full list of winners:

Palme d'Or: Ken Loach, I, Daniel Blake

Grand Prix: Xavier Dolan, It's Only The End of the World

Jury Prize: Andrea Arnold, American Honey

Best Actress: Jaclyn Jose, Ma Rosa

Best Actor: Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman

Best Director: Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper & Cristian Mungiu, Graduation

Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman

Camera d'Or: Divines, Houda Benyamina

Queer Palm (Feature): Les Vies de Thérèse, Sébastien Lifshitz

Queer Palm (Short): Gabber Lover, Anna Cazenave-Cambet.