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First film by British director Molly Manning Walker how to have sex won first prize at Cannes Un Certain Regard on Friday night.
Deadline reviewer Damon Wise described the story of a group of teenagers on a rite of passage clubbing vacation as “a visceral, sensory experience” and an “exceptional debut”. Read the review here and a Deadline interview with the director here.
The Jury Prize went to the Moroccan filmmaker Kamal Lazraq hounds about a father and son who find themselves caught up in a kidnapping plot gone awry.
The best director award went to the documentary by Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir The mother of all lies about the bread riots that rocked a working-class neighborhood of Casablanca in 1981.
Follow in the footsteps of Alain Guiraudie, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Sergei Loznitsa, who also won the award early in their careers.
In other awards, the Ensamble Award went to the cast of the Brazilian jungle drama Buriti’s flower by Joao Salaviza and Renée Nader Messoera; Belgian rapper and MC Baloji took the New Voice Award for Omen.
The Freedom Prize went to the Sudanese drama Goodbye Julia! by Mohamed Kordofani. Read Deadline’s interview with the director here.
Launched in 1978 by former Cannes general delegate Gilles Jacob, Un Certain Regard presents 20 films by emerging filmmakers, as well as more established directors who are pushing geographic and cinematographic boundaries.
Eight of this year’s submissions are previously unreleased films, making them also eligible for the Caméra d’Or for Best Debut Feature, which will be announced tomorrow along with the Main Competition awards, including the Palme d’Or.
John C. Reilly chaired the jury for this year’s Un Certain Regard, along with French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.
The ceremony took an unexpected turn after Walker was late and Reilly decided to serenade the audience while they awaited his arrival. Walker ran out into the hallway a few minutes later.
Un Certain Regard closes with the world premiere of Alex Lutz’s work strangers at nightwhich is screened Out of Competition after the UCR awards ceremony.
The Closing Ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 27 at 8:30 p.m. CET and will be followed by a performance by Peter Sohn Elementary as the official “last screening” of the festival.
