The Cannes Film Festival, which annually brings together film lovers and famous stars in France, took place from July 6 - 17, 2021. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Tahar Rahim, and others, along with the head of the jury, Spike Lee, announced the long-awaited list of winners on July 17, 2021.

According to the event's website and the official Twitter page of the festival, the winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival is "Titane," a film by French director Julia Ducournau. The film tells the story of a young girl serial killer.

The 74th award ceremony was held in the main hall of the Palace of Festivals and Conferences on the Croisette along the coast of Cannes, France.

The 2021 jury was chaired by director and actor Spike Lee. It's worth noting that the Cannes Film Festival 2021 jury also included directors Mati Diop, Jessica Hausner, Kleber Mendonça Filho, and singer Mylene Farmer. Twenty-four films participated in the festival's main program.

Festival Prix

The Grand Prix of the film festival, the second most valuable competition award, went to two films: "A Hero" by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and "Compartment No.6" by Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen. The best director was the Frenchman Leos Carax, who directed "Annette," starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver.

American Caleb Landry Jones won Best Actor for his role in the Australian competition drama film "Nitram," directed by Justin Kurzel.

Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve won Best Actress for "The Worst Person in the World," directed by Joachim Trier. The Jury Prize was shared by Israeli director Nadav Lapid for "Ahed's Knee" and Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul with "Memoria." The award for best screenplay went to "Drive My Car," directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Winners of the Un Certain Regard category

There were twenty films in the second official Un Certain Regard competition. Among them were four debuts: "Lamb" directed by Valdimar Johannsson, "Playground" directed by Laura Wandel, "La Civil" directed by Teodora Ana Mihai, and "Gaey of Wa'r" directed by Na Jiazuo as well as the six films that competed for the Caméra d'Or.

The grand prize in this category went to "Unclenching The Fists," directed by Kira Kovalenko. The Ensemble Prize went to "The Good Mother" ("Bonne Mère"), directed by Hafsia Herzi. The special prize for courage went to the debut feature "La Civil," directed by Teodora Ana Mihai. The award for originality went to the debut of director Valdimar Johannsson with "Lamb."

In the Special Mention category, A Special Look was awarded to "Noche De Fuego" ("Prayers for the Stolen"), directed by Tatiana Huezo. The Jury Prize went to "Great Freedom," directed by Sebastian Meise.

Golden Eye Award

Golden Eye (L’Œil d’Or) is a prestigious award given to the best documentary film presented at a film festival. The prize has existed since 2015, was initiated by the Civic Community of Multimedia Writers, headed by Julie Bertuccelli, and is supported by the Cannes Film Festival.

This year Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa received a special jury prize, Golden Eye, at the Cannes Film Festival for his documentary "Babi Yar. Context" about the Nazi killings of Jews in Kyiv during World War II. The premiere of the documentary "Babi Yar. Context" took place at the Cannes Film Festival on July 11 outside of the main competition, in a special screening program.

Ilya Khrzhanovsky, artistic director of the Babi Yar Memorial Center, read out Loznitsa's letter to the jury and the Festival during the ceremony and accepted the award on behalf of the director. Loznitsa said he hopes the award will help the film reach a broad audience around the world.
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