Korean talent took two of the top awards at this year’s Cannes film festival (May 17-28), with Park Chan-wook winning best director for Decision To Leave and Song Kang-ho taking best actor for his role in Broker.
Starring Park Hae-il and Chinese actress Tang Wei, Decision To Leave revolves around a police detective and his relationship with a woman whose husband’s death he is investigating. Park Chan-wook was also in Cannes competition with The Handmaiden in 2016; won the Cannes’ Grand Prix with Old Boy in 2004 and the Cannes jury prize for Thirst in 2009.
Broker, the first Korean-language film directed by Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, tells the story of two men involved in the black market trade of young infants. It marks the first Cannes win for Song, who starred in Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019) and has won scores of international awards throughout his career. Kore-eda was last in Cannes with 2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters.
This year’s Palme d’Or went to Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle Of Sadness, a satire of the influencer and fashion industry, while the Grand Prix was shared by Lukas Dhont’s coming-of-age drama Close and Claire Denis’ romantic thriller Stars At Noon.
Best actress went to Zar Amir Ebrahimi for her role in Iranian director Ali Abbasi’s serial killer noir Holy Spider. Best Screenplay went to Swedish-Egyptian filmmaker Tarik Saleh for Boy From Heaven, which he both wrote and directed, about a power struggle following the death of an imam.
This year’s Cannes competition jury was headed by French actor Vincent Lindon and also included Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, UK-US actress and director Rebecca Hall, French director Ladj Ly, US director Jeff Nichols, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Norwegian director Joachim Trier and Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca.
In the Un Certain Regard section, the top prize went to The Worst Ones, directed by France’s Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, a satire of French ‘banlieue’ and street kid cinema, while the Jury Prize went to Saim Sadiq’s Joyland, the first Pakistani film in Cannes official selection, about the relationship between a married man and a trans performer in an erotic theatre troupe (see full list of Cannes winners below).
Cannes 2022 award winners:
Palme d’or: Triangle Of Sadness, directed by Ruben Ostlund
Grand Prix (jointly awarded): Close, directed by Lukas Dhont, and Stars At Noon, directed by Claire Denis
Best Director: Park Chan-wook for Decision To Leave
Best Screenplay: Tarik Saleh for Boy From Heaven
Jury Prize (jointly awarded): EO, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, and Le Otto Montagne, directed by Charlotte Vandermeersch & Felix van Groeningen
Prize of the 75th: Tori And Lokita, directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Best Performance by an Actor: Song Kang-ho in Broker, directed by Hirokazu
Kore-eda
Short Films:
Palme d’or: The Water Murmurs, directed by Chen Jianying
Special Mention: Lori, directed by Abinash Bikram Shah
Un Certain Regard:
Un Certain Regard Prize: The Worst Ones, directed by Lise Akoka & Romane Gueret
Jury Prize: Joyland, directed by Saim Sadiq
Best Director Prize: Metronom, directed by Alexandru Belc
Best Performance (jointly awarded): Vicky Krieps in Corsage, directed by Marie Kreutzer, and Adam Bessa in Harka, directed by Lotfy Nathan
Best Screenplay Prize: Mediterranean Fever, directed by Maha Haj
Coup de cœur Prize: Rodeo, directed by Lola Quivoron
Caméra d’or: War Pony, directed by Riley Keough & Gina Gammell presented in Un Certain Regard
Special Mention: Plan 75, directed by Chie Hayakawa