Elephant wins top Cannes prize
“Elephant,” Gus Van Sant’s film about a high school shooting in America, tonight won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
The screenwriting prize went to Denys Arcand for “The Barbarian Invasions.” He also directed the French-Canadian film about a man who confronts death with humour and sharp intelligence. The movie seemed to touch the most hearts in Cannes, and had many viewers wiping away tears.
Marie-Josee Croze, who plays a young drug addict recruited to supply the dying man with heroin to ease his pain, won the award for best actress.
The jury prize went to “At Five in the Afternoon,” by 23-year-old Samira Makhmalbaf of Iran. The movie – her third to show in Cannes – is about a spirited young Afghan who dreams of being her country’s first woman president.
“Reconstruction,” by Denmark’s Christoffer Boe, won the Camera d’Or, an award for the best film by a first-time director.
The prize for best short film went to Australia’s Glendyn Ivin for “Cracker Bag,” about a girl who saves her pocket change to buy firecrackers.
