Jacques Audiard has cemented his place as the premier contemporary French director by winning the Palme d’Or in Cannes for his seventh feature, Dheepan. The new film from Rust and Bone director Jacques Audiard has a former fighter in the Sri Lankan civil war trying to make a new life in France with a fake family. Audiard, 63, took the Grand Prix (or runner-up award) five years ago for A Prophet, and competed at the festival three years ago with Rust & Bone. His new film is a less-starry affair than those two; the tale of a former fighter in the Sri Lankan civil war trying to make a new life in France with a fake family. It was a night of surprises at the 68th Cannes film festival, with many critics’ favourites thwarted and the jury – who are only allowed to award one prize per film – exhibiting eclectic taste and a pronounced accent on the celebration of French acting talent. This year’s Grand Prix went to 38-year-old debut director László Nemes for Son of Saul, the Auschwitz-set story of a prisoner working as a Sonderkommando, guiding Jews into the gas chambers and then disposing of their bodies.
