Jacques Audiard΄s Dheepan makes the surprise and wins the Palme D΄Or at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, where French productions dominated the main awards, while, important prizes were handed to four Balkan filmmakers.

Though many expected a third Cannes award for the french filmmaker, harldy anyone had anticipated the film to win the Big Prize. On behalf of the jury, co-chair Ethan Coen stated that "the decision to give the Palme d΄Or to Dheepan did not take long, because we thought the film was magnificent, although obviously other movies really appealed to the jury members. There were not enough prizes for us to be able to acknowledge all of the films that we would have liked to single out. The rules prevented us from doing that, just as they prevented us from adding another actress to the ex-aequo award." 

Six years after the Un Certain Regard Award for Dogtooth, Yorgos Lanthimos΄ The Lobster (his first entry at the Official Competition) earned him the Jury Prize, which gave the Greek filmmaker the chance to express his admiration for the Jury President couple: "This award is all the more special because it is handed out by a jury chaired by the Coen brothers, who are extraordinary. I was already very happy to have been in the competition. I was stressed and humbled: what were the Coen brothers going to think of my film?" 

Son of Paul by Laszlo Nemes from Hungary -this year΄s favorite- went away with the Grand Prix of the festival. The talented director "was already surprised to have been selected in competition, so winning an award like this is unbelievable. I’m very happy because the film is going to be distributed all around the world and will reach different cultures. Europe is still haunted by the extermination of the Jews. It’s not just a page in history, and I tried to tackle this subject in a different manner in order to speak to the new generations." Houy Hsiao Hsien, another regular of the festival, took the Best Director Award for The Assasin, while Argentinian filmmaker Michel Franco with his Chronic, went away with the Best Screenplay Award. 

Moving to the Un Certain Regard section, after handing the Main Prize to Icelandic film Rams by Grímur Hákonarson, the jury gave its prize to Dalibor Matanic΄s drama The High Sun for "narrating (...) the terible effects of war and the long, complicated process of reconciliation". The Croatian director thanked the festival "because through it our voices can be heared". Treasure by Corneliu Porumboiu got the Un Certain Talent Prize "for its humor and wit with which show us the complexity of life" according to the jury. Receiving the award, the Romanian filmmaker thanked -among others- his actors: "This award is mine as well as it is them".

There was another Balkan film to be awarded last night. On the Director΄ Fortnight section, the Europa Cinemas Label Award went to Deniz Gamze Ergüven΄s Mustang, which will now receive the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s run on screen. The International Critics΄ Week΄s Nespresso Grand Prize went to Paulina by Santiago Mitre from Argentina, while, Cinefondation gave its First Prize to the short U.S. film Share by Pippa Bianco.

After all the winners and winning films were announced, the director and French artist, Agnès Varda, received an Honorary Palme d΄Or for her collected works. 

Festival de Cannes 2015 Awards:

Palme d΄Or: Dheepan, Jacques Audiard (France, 2015)

Grand Prix: Son of Saul, László Nemes (Hungary, 2015)

Best Director: Hou Hsiao Hsien, The Assassin (Taiwan/China/Hong Kong, 2015) 

Best Actress: Rooney Mara, Carol (UK/USA, 2015), and Emmanuelle Bercot, Mon roi (France, 2015)

Best Actor: Vincent Lindon, The Measure of a Man (France, 2015)

Best Screenplay: Chronic, Michel Franco (USA, 2015)

Jury Prize: The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece/UK/Ireland/Netherlands/France, 2015)

Caméra d΄Or: Land and Shade, César Augusto Acevedo (Colombia, 2015)

Palme d΄Or for Best Short Film: Waves ΄98, Ely Dagher (Lebanon/Qatar, 2015, 15΄)

Un Certain Rergard Award: Rams by Grímur Hákonarson (Iceland, 2015)

Jury Prize: The High Sun by Dalibor Matanić (Croatia/Serbia/Slovenia, 2015)

Best Director Prize: Kiyoshi Kurosawa for Journey to the Shore (Japan, 2015)

Un Certain Talent Prize: Treasure by Corneliu Porumboiu (Romania/France, 2015)

Joint Promising Future Prize: Fly Away Solo by Neeraj Ghaywan (India, 2015) and Nahid by Ida Panahandeh (Iran, 2015)

Cinefondation First Prize: Share by Pippa Bianco (USA, 2015, 12΄)

Second Prize: Lost Queens by Ignacio Juricic Merillán (Chile, 2015, 28΄)

Joint Third Prize: The Return Of Erkin by Maria Guskova (Russia, 2015, 28΄) and Victor XX by Ian Garrido López (Spain, 2015, 20΄)

The International Critics Week Nespresso Grand Prize: Paulina by Santiago Mitre (Argentina, 2015)

Directors΄ Fortnight Art Cinema Award: Embrace of the Serpent by Ciro Guerra (Colombia, 2015)

Directors΄ Fortnight Europa Cinemas Label Award: Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Turkey/France/Germany, 2015)

FIPRESCI Prize for the Official Competition: Son of Saul, László Nemes (Hungary, 2015)

FIPRESCI Prize for Un Certain Reagard: Masaan by Neeraj Ghaywan (India, 2015)

Ecumenical Jury Prize: Mia Madre by Nanni Moretti (Italy, 2015)

Special Mentions to The Measure of a Man by Stephane Brize (France, 2015) and Taklub by Brillante Mendoza (Philippines, 2015)