Cannes Film Festival 2012 ends with Amour (Love)

As the Cannes Film Festival 2012 wrapped up for the year, Sunday showed some of the most prestigious awards being handed out.

Austrian director, Michael Haneke, won the Cannes Film Festival’s top honour, the Palme d’Or, with his feature film Amour (Love).

Haneke joins the elite group of two-time winners at the world’s biggest film festival after he won the Palme d’Or for his film The White Ribbon in 2009.

The Grand Prix runner-up prize was awarded to Matteo Garrone’s Reality, an examination of society’s obsession with celebrities and reality television.

British director Ken Loach won the Jury Prize (the third prize) for his The Angels’ Share.

Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas won the best director award for Post Tenebraslux, an exploration of menace within Mexican society today.

Cristian Mungiu, Romanian filmaker, picked up the screenplay honour for Beyond the Hills about a real-life exorcism gone wrong, with his two stars, Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan, winning the best actress and best actor awards. Mungiu also won the Palme d’Or back in 2007 for his abortion film 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days.

Danish star Mads Mikkelsen was a popular winner of the best actor prize for his portrayal of a man wrongly accused of child abuse in the The Hunt.

Turkish director, Rezan Yesilbas, won Sunday night’s second Palme d’Or for short film Sessiz-Be Deng (Silence), his third short movie about a mother of three visiting her husband in prison.

As Cannes 2012 wrapped up for the year, the following awards were given out:

In Competition:

Palme d’Or – Feature Film: Amour (Love) directed by Michael Haneke

Grand Prix runner-up: Reality directed by Matteo Garrone

Jury Prize: The Angels’ Share directed by Ken Loach

Award for Best Director: Carlos Reygadas for Post Tenebraslux

Award for Best Screenplay: Cristian Mungui for Dupa Dealuri (Beyond the Hills)

Award for Best Actress: Cristina Flutur in Dupa Dealuri (Beyond the Hills) directed by Cristian Mungui

Award for Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen in Jagten (The Hunt) directed by Thomas Vinterberg

Palme d’Or – Short Film: Sessiz-Be Deng (Silent) directed by L. Rezan Yesilbas

Un Certain Regard:

Prize of Un Certain Regard: Despues de Lucia directed by Michel Franco

Best Actresses: Suzanne Clement in Laurence Anyways directed by Xavier Dolan; Emilie Dequenne in A Perdre la Raison directed by Joachim Lafosse

Un Certain Regard Special Distinction: Djeca (Children of Sarajevo) directed by Aida Begic

Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize: Le Grand Soir directed by Gustave Kervern, Benoît Delepine

Cinefondation:

1^st Prize: Dorogana-na (The Road To) directed by Taisia Gumerntseva

2nd Prize: Abigail directed by Matthew James Reilly

3^rd Prize: Los Anfitriones (The Hosts) directed by Miguel Angel Moulet

Golden Camera:

Beasts Of The Southern Wild directed by Benh Zeitlin

Zanib Ashgar