The 67th Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from May 14 through May 25 in the French city of the same name. Today, the festival has become the most posh, prestigious and exclusive film event of the year, having an invitation-only policy. Oh, and the fashion was pretty extravagant too.
Cannes consists of five competition selections: Feature films, Short films, Cinefoundation, Un Certain Regard and Golden Camera. Each selection has its own set of awards.
Although the film industry has seen a recent surge of up and coming women filmmakers, the field is still pretty male-dominated. This year alone, The Cannes Film Festival had 1800 narrative film submissions; only 126 (seven percent) came from women.
Awful statistics aside, this past weekend, the festival came to a close and some sweet lovin’ was thrown to the ladies. Meet the women award winners from this year’s festival.
Alice Rohrwacher
Rohrwacher’s film, Les Meravigile (The Wonders) won the Grand Prix award, the most prestigious award behind the Palm D’or. The story follows a girl named Gelsomina – the heir of an odd kingdom her father built to protect his family from “the end of the world” – and her three younger sisters. Rohrwacher also wrote Les Meravigile. Her previous film, Corpo Celeste, premiered in 2011 at the Zurich Film Festival.
Claire Burger, Samuel Theis and Marie Amachoukeli
Though one of the members of this trio is male, they’re still worthy of a mention. Their film, Party Girl won two awards: Best Ensemble and Camera D’Or. Party Girl tells the tale of Angelique, a sixty-year-old barmaid who still enjoys picking up men. One night, a bar regular named Michel, asks her to marry him. In 2008, the trio ‘s short film, Forbach competed in the Cinéfondation selection, where it took home second place. But their Camera D’or win is making even more waves, as this honor is given to the festival’s best first feature film.
Annie Silverstein
Silverstein hails from University of Texas at Austin. Her film, Skunk, won the top prize in the Cinéfondation category, which showcases work from film students around the world. Out of 1,631 submissions, sixteen were selected for competition, and this year’s line up was anything but the norm. Nine of the sixteen films came from women directors. Cheers to that! Moreover, Silverstein’s production was made entirely by UT graduate and undergraduate students. Her win at Cannes guarantees her first full-length film will show at the festival in the future. To that, we say: Hook ‘Em!
Atsuko Hirayanagi
Hirayanagi is a student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia. She was awarded second place in Cinéfondation, for her film Oh Lucy! Setsuko, 55, is a single woman who works in an office in Tokyo. One day her English instructor gives her a blonde wig and a new identity. Just like that, “Lucy,” is born and the identity Setsuko never knew she had awakens.
Click here to see a full list of award winners and here to see what films were acquired.
Photos courtesy of Annie Silverstein’s Vimeo, Pyramide Films, Oh Lucy!, and Cinevox
TAGS: Film Festivals Women in entertainment Women in Hollywood