Source: CCTV.com

06-04-2007 14:06

Last Sunday, the 27th May, the 60th Cannes Film Festival drew to its grand conclusion as this year's awards were announced. Today's SPOTLIGHT picks out the stars.

"4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 days" beat 21 other movies in competition to take the top prize, the Palme d'Or in Cannes' diamond jubilee year. It's the second film by director Cristian Mungiu.

The Grand Prix went to "The Mourning Forest". Director Naomi Kawase also wrote the screenplay and produced as well. She described it as " very Japanese, especially the attitude of Japanese to life and death"

Gus Van Sant's "Paranoid Park" won the Special Prize. A story about young people lost in their lives.

Jury Prizes were awarded to "Persepolis" and "Secret Sunshine". "Persepolis" took on many sensitive topics for an animated film with religion, faith and race problems seen through the eyes of a 9-year-old girl.

Julian Schnabel, director of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" won the Best Director Award. Its the story of a man who can only communicate with the world through blinking his left eye after suffering a brain hemorrhage. This was the real life fate of the author of the book on which the film was based; former fashion journalist Jean Dominique Bauby.

Jeon Do Yeon, from South Korea won the Best Actress Award for her performance in "Secret Sunshine". Meanwhile Russian actor Konstantin Lavronenko took the Best Actor for his role in "The Banishment".

Although Chinese films came away empty handed from this year's Cannes, Chinese directors have still been prominent.