Veteran director Ken Loach wins second Palme d’Or
Q. Which veteran director has won his second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival?- Published on 24 May 16a. Woody Allen
b. Ken Loach
c. Both of the above
d. Neither of the above
ANSWER: Ken Loach
Veteran British director Ken Loach won his second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival when I, Daniel Blake, his latest social-realist drama, took the Best Picture award on May 22.
- Loach, 79, is one of only nine directors to have won the top prize at Cannes twice. Loach had won in 2006 with The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
- I, Daniel Blake, shows how Britain’s social security system conspires to drive a downtrodden carpenter and a single mother of two into poverty in the northeastern city of Newcastle.
- The Iranian film Forushande (The Salesman) by Asghar Farhadi received two awards, for Best Screenplay and for Best Actor, won by Shahab Hosseini.
- Canadian director Xavier Dolan, who won the Jury Prize with Mommy in 2014, received the Grand Prix for his Juste la Fin du Monde (It’s Only the End of the World).
- The Jury Prize went to American Honey by British director Andrea Arnold, while Olivier Assays, director of Personal Shopper and Cristian Mungiu who made Bacalaureat (Graduation) tied for Best Director.
- Jaclyn Jose won Best Actress for her role in Ma’ Rosa, a brutal dive into the Manila underworld directed by Brillante Mendoza.
- Jean-Pierre Leaud, one of the most famous faces of the French New Wave, received the Palme d’Or d’Honneur, a lifetime achievement award.
