‘The Square’ bags Palme D’Or, Sofia Coppola Best Director at Cannes

Cannes, May 29 (IANS) Director Ruben Ostlund walked away with the Cannes Film Festival's highest honour as his "The Square", an art world satire that stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West, won this year's Palme d'Or here.

When Ostlund did not get an Oscar nomination in 2015, he good-naturedly released a video that included what he called a "worst man cry".

On Sunday night, the Swedish director took a different tack as he rejoiced in his Cannes win. He asked photographers in the pit below the stage at the Lumiere Theatre to turn their cameras on the audience and led all attendees in a primal scream "of happiness".

He said: "I can direct you now, after all I won the Palme d'Or."

Other winners included Diane Kruger as Best Actress for her first German-language turn in Fatih Akin's "In the Fade", a timely story of the aftermath of a terrorist bombing, reports deadline.com.

The actress, who works largely in French and American cinema, gave a shout-out to those affected by terrorism, particularly the folks left behind.

To those "who have to go on living" after losing someone, she said, "please know you are not forgotten".

Joaquin Phoenix was named Best Actor for "You Were Never Really Here". He sported Converse sneakers, apologising that his proper shoes already had been sent home.

The Amazon Studios title also won Best Screenplay for writer-director Lynne Ramsay, who shared that nod in a tie with Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou for "The Killing of a Sacred Deer".

Actress Nicole Kidman was awarded a special 70th anniversary award. She sent a video message from Nashville saying she was "devastated" for not being present at the event.

"Last week was like a dream. This is a lovely way to come back to the dream," Kidman said.

Among her acknowledgements was Sofia Coppola, in whose movie "The Beguiled" Kidman starred.

Coppola, also absent from the Palais gala, was named Best Director for the film. She sent a message honouring, among others, her mother and father, director Francis Ford Coppola who made "The Godfather" trilogy.

This is the second time in the festival's history that a woman has won this prize, following Yuliya Solntseva for "The Story of the Flaming Years" back in 1961.

In other big wins, Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Loveless", won the Jury Prize. And, Robin Campillo's AIDS activist drama "120 Beats Per Minute" picked up the Grand Prize.