French filmmaker Justine Triet called out president Emmanuel Macron during her acceptance speech for the prestigious Palme d’Or, which is awarded to the best film at Cannes.
The 44-year-old, who won the prize for her courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, starring Sandra Huller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband’s death, is only the third female director to receive the honour.
Julia Ducournau, who won for Titane in 2021, and Jane Campion, who won for The Piano in 1993, are the only other women to have won the Palme D’or. Triet’s movie beat fierce competition from acclaimed directors including Wes Anderson and Todd Haynes.
Veteran actress Jane Fonda presented the award to Triet, who has previously directed 2013's Age Of Panic and 2019's Sibyl.
In a somewhat controversial speech, Triet protested against the French government’s austerity programmes, which have included major cuts to cultural programmes and pension reforms.
Triet said the French system of “cultural exception... without which I would not be here today”, was under threat, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
“This award is dedicated to all the young women directors and all the young male directors: all those who cannot manage to shoot films today. We must give them space, the space I occupied 15 years ago in a less hostile world, where it was still possible to make mistakes and to start again.”
She also criticised Macron, who sparked nationwide protest after signing a controversial bill into law that raised the retirement age in France from 62 to 64.
Her speech was met with a swift statement from French culture minister Rima Abdul Malak, who said she was “flabbergasted” by Triet’s remarks.
“This film would not have seen the light of day without our French film financing model, which allows for a diversity that is unique in the world. Let’s not forget that,” she tweeted.
This year’s festival also saw the Grand Prix go to Jonathan Glazer's The Zone Of Interest, an adaptation of late author Martin Amis's novel of the same name about a German family living next door to Auschwitz.
Meanwhile, the jury prize went to Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki's Fallen Leaves, a deadpan love story about a romance that blooms in a loveless workaday world.
Japanese actor Koji Yakusho, who plays a middle-aged Tokyo man who cleans toilets in Wim Wenders' Perfect Days, won the Best Actor award.
Some of the festival's biggest premieres were for films that did not compete Palme d'Or including Martin Scorsese debuting his Osage murders epic Killers Of The Flower Moon starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.
Harrison Ford received an honorary Palme d'Or ahead of the world debut screening of his new film Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.
The veteran US star, 80, said he was “deeply moved and humbled” to be honoured with the accolade.
Johnny Depp also returned to the spotlight on the opening day of the film festival as his new historical drama Jeanne Du Barry premiered.
The project is his first major onscreen appearance since winning his high-profile defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard last year.
Additional reporting by Press Association
