Written by Tom Deehan on May 30, 2017. Posted in General Interest

Cannes Film Festival 2017: Ruben Östlund’s The Square surprises with Palme d’Or win

Despite pundits predicting success for Robin Campillo’s 120 Beats per Minute, Ruben Östlund’s satirical-drama, The Square, has emerged as the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival.

With a budget of USD5.5 million and a 75 day production period, The Square was shot on location in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Berlin. The film’s art gallery was inspired by Sweden’s Royal Palace - known for its extravagant design.

The film features an international cast including Dominic West (The Affair), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Terry Notary (War for the Planet of the Apes).

The 70^th anniversary award was presented to Nicole Kidman, who appeared in no less than four feature films at this year’s festival. Among these films are Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled and John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties, the latter of which was shot in London’s Croydon.

A seemingly shocked Joaquin Phoenix was bestowed with the Best Performance by an Actor award, for his turn in Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here. With scenes filmed in Brooklyn, the film follows an army veteran as he attempts to save a young girl from a sex-trafficking operation.

Diane Kruger’s performance in Fatih Akin’s In the Fade earned her the prize for Best Performance by an Actress. Kruger recently starred in a commercial shot in Sri-Lanka, with the help of production service company, Crew for Shoots.

Full list of winners:

Feature films - competition

Palme d'Or

The Square directed by Ruben Östlund

 

70^th anniversary award

Nicole Kidman

 

Grand prix

120 Beats per Minute directed by Robin Campillo

 

Best Director Prize

Sofia Coppola for The Beguiled

 

Best Performance by an Actor

Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here directed by Lynne Ramsay

 

Best Performance by an Actress

Diane Kruger in In the Fade directed by fatih akin

 

Jury Prize

Loveless directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

 

Best screenplay Ex-Æquo

Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here

 

Short films - competition

Palme d'Or

A Gentle Night directed by Qiu Yang

 

Special Distinction by the Jury

The Ceiling directed by Teppo Airaksinen

 

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard prize

A Man of Integrity directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

 

Prize for Best Actress

Jasmine Trinca for Fortunata directed by Sergio Castellitto

 

Prize for the Best Poetic Narrative

Barbara directed by Mathieu Amalric

 

Prize for Best Direction

Taylor Sheridan for Wind River

 

Jury Prize

April's Daughter directed by Michel Franco

 

Caméra d’Or

Jeune Femme (Montparnasse Bienvenüe) directed by Léonor Serraille

 

Cinefondation

First prize
Paul is Here directed by valentina maurel
INSAS, Belgium

 

Second prize
Animal directed by Bahram & Bahman ark
Iranian National School of Cinema, Iran

 

Third prize
Two Youths Died directed by Tommaso Usberti
La Fémis, France

 

Vulcain prize
Josefin Asberg for The Square