- Title: FRANCE: BELGIUM FILM "ROSETTA" WINS THE 52 PALM 'DOR AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
- Date: 29th May 1999
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 24, 1999) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) (SOUNDBITE) (French) EMMANUEL SCHOTTE, WINNER OF BEST ACTOR PRIZE SAYING: "I met Bruno Dumont through a friend of mine we discussed the film together, I'd never made a film, I didn't have a job so immediately I said yes to the proposal." (SOUNDBITE) (French) SEVERINE CANEELE WINNER OF BEST ACTRESS SAYING: "I was just a worker in Belgium and in a vegetable plant and it's unbelievable to be among the biggest stars." (SOUNDBITE) (French) BRUNO DUMONT SAYING: "For me what is important is that cinema is still surviving and it's being awarded today and it's very encouraging for young film directors, it's a kind of madness which indicates that film directors are only men, who are walking in front of the public and not behind. Film makers don't follow trends." WINNERS OF PALME D'OR LEAVING PALAIS DES FESTIVALS (SOUNDBITE) (French)JEAN PIERRE DARDENNE SAYING: "We didn't have any working method, an actor is a human being. Each time when you work with a human being, he is different so we don't have any method, any recipe, what I want to say is that we spent a lot of time with Rosetta before the shoot instructing her about what she had to do in the film." (SOUNDBITE) (French) LUC DARDENNE SAYING: "What she has modified because the screenplay has changed, she has shown simplicity and poverty in the way she was working and also in the construction of the screen play itself." DARDENNE BROTHERS WALKING TOWARDS MARQUEE FOR DINNER CAST OF MOLOCH AND DIRECTOR ALEXANDRE SOKOUROV WAVING PHOTOGRAPHERS DIRECTOR SOKOUROV POSING AND WAVING
- Embargoed: 13th June 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA51R83P1O8IG34TJO25A91HH3R
- Story Text: The Cannes Film Festival drew to a close this year with a host of surprises.The Belgian film "Rosetta", a comparative dark horse out of the 22 festival contenders, won the 52nd top Golden Palm award.The selection was one of a series of unexpected winners at this year's festival.
A star studded cast greeted this year's winners for the coveted golden palm award in Cannes.But the crowd of celebrities who turned up for the lavish production were obviously surprised by the announcement of the victors.
In an unexpected move, the top prize went to Belgium's 'Rosetta', which tells of an 18-year old girl struggling to find her place in the world.She has to fight for every job she gets and remains determined - despite repeated setbacks.
The choice of 'Rosetta' as winner of the palm, was not the only festival surprise.Another shock winner at Cannes was France's 'Humanity', which picked up the festival's Grand Jury prize, the second most prestigious award after the Golden Palm.
"Humanity" leads Emmanuel Schotte and Severine Caneele won the festival's prizes for Best Actor and Actress.
Caneele shared the Best Actress prize with "Rosetta"
star Emilie Duquenne.
'Humanity' is a starkly realistic film about the oppressive tedium of life in a northern French town.
The film is packed with long silences and the camera often fixes on such mundane rituals as a man drinking coffee or riding a bicycle.
Critics were sharply divided on the film after its festival screening earlier in the week, with some loving it, but far more loathing it.
L'humanite's cast received only a meagre applause.
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, whose film "All About My Mother" was the overall critical favourite for the palm, won the Best Director Prize.
The film combines melodrama and humour as it tells the tale of four women dealing with drug abuse, AIDS and the death of a child.
Russian film "Moloch", which took Best Screenplay, was another controversial choice.Written by Yuri Arabov and Marina Koreneva, the film is a unusual portrayal of a Hitler ignorant of the existence of Auschwitz.
The Cannes jury, led by Canadian director David Cronenberg, appeared to be singling out newcomers for special attention, as Duquenne, Schotte and Caneele were all non-professionals.Cronenberg himself is notorious for his bizarre often shocking films.
The festival jury awarded its Jury Prize, the festival's third prize, to "The Letter", directed by Manoel de Oliveira.
The film is inspired by the eighteenth century novel 'La Princesse de Cleves, by Madame de la Fayette, but set in the twentieth century. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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