'Titane', a wildly imaginative film about a serial killer by French director Julia Ducournau, won the top Palme d`Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, jury head Spike Lee told the ceremony before the award was due to be revealed. 
 
In a moment of confusion when asked in French to reveal what one of the prizes was, the U.S. film director read off a card and prematurely announced the best movie winner. 
 
It was not the first blooper moment at an awards ceremony: at the 2017 Oscars, the musical 'La La Land'&nbsp;was incorrectly announced as best movie, instead of 'Moonlight'. Ducournau, 37, became only the second woman to win the top award at Cannes. Her violent film, where the heroine has sex with a car, split critics, with some praising its originality but others put off by its frantic and messy approach.

<img alt="Spike lee" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="09d16252-eebb-4212-aa90-1c6156547f12" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/happy%2030th%20birthday%20-%202021-07-18T103801.449.jpg" /> 
 
Described as a 'body horror'&nbsp;movie and based around a character with a titanium plate in her head, the film impressed with its energy. 
"Ducournau's beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy is a nightmarish yet mischievously comic barrage of sex, violence, lurid lighting and pounding music," critics at the BBC broadcaster said. "It`s also impossible to predict where it`s going to go next." 
 
Ducournau had previously found critical success with 'Raw'&nbsp;in 2016. The only previous female winner of Cannes` top award was Jane Campion who shared the prize in 1993 for 'The Piano'. 
 
The world`s biggest film festival returned to the French Riviera after a 2020 hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic in one of the most unpredictable contests in years. 
 
STARS HAPPY TO BE BACK 
 
The event drew stars such as Matt Damon and Sharon Stone to the red carpet, with moviemakers and actors delighted to be back though attendance was down on previous years. 
 
Once the awards were officially announced, other big winners included Leos Carax, picked as best director for 'Annette', a musical about two artists caught in a twisted love affair. 
 
Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamusa Oe of Japan won the best screenplay for their tale of heartbreak and loss 'Drive My Car'. 
Renate Reinsve won the best actress for her role in 'The Worst Person In The World'&nbsp;by Joachim Trier, a modern-day romantic comedy that was a big hit with critics. 
 
"Compartment no6" by Juho Kuosmanen, about a woman who embarks on a train journey across Russia, tied with "A Hero" by Iran`s Asghar Farhadi, which features a prisoner faced with a moral quandary, for the Grand Prix distinction. 
 
Caleb Landry Jones, who starred in the Australian film 'Nitram', won the best actor. 
 
The Jury Prize, another runner-up award for best movie, went to two films: 'Ahead`s Knee'&nbsp;by Israel's Nadav Lapid and 'Memoria'&nbsp;by Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

'Titane', a wildly imaginative film about a serial killer by French director Julia Ducournau, won the top Palme d`Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, jury head Spike Lee told the ceremony before the award was due to be revealed.

'Titane', a wildly imaginative film about a serial killer by French director Julia Ducournau, won the top Palme d`Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, jury head Spike Lee told the ceremony before the award was due to be revealed. In a moment of confusion when asked in French to reveal what one of the prizes was, the U.S. film director read off a card and prematurely announced the best movie winner. It was not the first blooper moment at an awards ceremony: at the 2017 Oscars, the musical 'La La Land' was incorrectly announced as best movie, instead of 'Moonlight'. Ducournau, 37, became only the second woman to win the top award at Cannes. Her violent film, where the heroine has sex with a car, split critics, with some praising its originality but others put off by its frantic and messy approach. Described as a 'body horror' movie and based around a character with a titanium plate in her head, the film impressed with its energy. "Ducournau's beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy is a nightmarish yet mischievously comic barrage of sex, violence, lurid lighting and pounding music," critics at the BBC broadcaster said. "It`s also impossible to predict where it`s going to go next." Ducournau had previously found critical success with 'Raw' in 2016. The only previous female winner of Cannes` top award was Jane Campion who shared the prize in 1993 for 'The Piano'. The world`s biggest film festival returned to the French Riviera after a 2020 hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic in one of the most unpredictable contests in years. STARS HAPPY TO BE BACK The event drew stars such as Matt Damon and Sharon Stone to the red carpet, with moviemakers and actors delighted to be back though attendance was down on previous years. Once the awards were officially announced, other big winners included Leos Carax, picked as best director for 'Annette', a musical about two artists caught in a twisted love affair. Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamusa Oe of Japan won the best screenplay for their tale of heartbreak and loss 'Drive My Car'. Renate Reinsve won the best actress for her role in 'The Worst Person In The World' by Joachim Trier, a modern-day romantic comedy that was a big hit with critics. "Compartment no6" by Juho Kuosmanen, about a woman who embarks on a train journey across Russia, tied with "A Hero" by Iran`s Asghar Farhadi, which features a prisoner faced with a moral quandary, for the Grand Prix distinction. Caleb Landry Jones, who starred in the Australian film 'Nitram', won the best actor. The Jury Prize, another runner-up award for best movie, went to two films: 'Ahead`s Knee' by Israel's Nadav Lapid and 'Memoria' by Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Spike Lee accidentally announces 'Titane' as Palme d'Or winner at Cannes before time

The latest film by US director Wes Anderson, 'The French Dispatch', will premiere at this year's Cannes film festival in the official competition, organisers said Friday.

The film's star-studded cast includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothee Chalamet, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro and Saoirse Ronan, as well as French actors Lea Seydoux and Mathieu Amalric.

The film -- initially planned to screen at Cannes last year before the festival was cancelled because of Covid-19 -- "will have its world preview premiere in the Cannes competition", the festival tweeted.

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It follows events at the French foreign news bureau of a Kansas newspaper set in a fictitious 20th-century French city.

Two other films have already been confirmed for the official selection which groups movies competing for the Palme d'Or, one of global cinema's top awards.

One is 'Annette', a musical film scheduled to open the festival, by Frenchman Leos Carax starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver and with 70s pop duo Sparks contributing the score and,&nbsp;in collaboration with Carax, the screenplay.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-carole-baskin-turned-down-offer-to-star-in-netflix-%E2%80%98tiger-king%E2%80%99-season-2-388218" hreflang="en">Carole Baskin turned down offer to star in Netflix ‘Tiger King’ season 2</a>

The other is 'Benedetta'&nbsp;by Dutchman Paul Verhoeven -- famous for "Basic Instinct" -- about the life of a novice nun in the 17th century who has a love affair with another woman.

The full lineup of the official competition will be released on June 3. At the last Cannes festival in 2019, the Palme d'Or went to the South Korean film 'Parasite'&nbsp;by Bong Joon-ho.

The festival, the world's biggest film gathering usually held in May, was this year postponed by nearly two months because of Covid restrictions and is now scheduled for July 6 to 17.

The latest film by US director Wes Anderson, 'The French Dispatch', will premiere at this year's Cannes film festival in the official competition, organisers said Friday.

The latest film by US director Wes Anderson, 'The French Dispatch', will premiere at this year's Cannes film festival in the official competition, organisers said Friday. The film's star-studded cast includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothee Chalamet, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro and Saoirse Ronan, as well as French actors Lea Seydoux and Mathieu Amalric. The film -- initially planned to screen at Cannes last year before the festival was cancelled because of Covid-19 -- "will have its world preview premiere in the Cannes competition", the festival tweeted. This is how Jennifer Aniston felt like returning to 'Friends' set after so many years It follows events at the French foreign news bureau of a Kansas newspaper set in a fictitious 20th-century French city. Two other films have already been confirmed for the official selection which groups movies competing for the Palme d'Or, one of global cinema's top awards. One is 'Annette', a musical film scheduled to open the festival, by Frenchman Leos Carax starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver and with 70s pop duo Sparks contributing the score and, in collaboration with Carax, the screenplay. Carole Baskin turned down offer to star in Netflix ‘Tiger King’ season 2 The other is 'Benedetta' by Dutchman Paul Verhoeven -- famous for "Basic Instinct" -- about the life of a novice nun in the 17th century who has a love affair with another woman. The full lineup of the official competition will be released on June 3. At the last Cannes festival in 2019, the Palme d'Or went to the South Korean film 'Parasite' by Bong Joon-ho. The festival, the world's biggest film gathering usually held in May, was this year postponed by nearly two months because of Covid restrictions and is now scheduled for July 6 to 17.

Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' to compete for Palme d'Or at Cannes

Belgium's Dardenne brothers, already Cannes legends, with two Palme d'Or prizes under their belt, added to their tally on Saturday with the best director award for their story of a radicalised Muslim youth, "Young Ahmed".

After "Rosetta" in 1999 and "L'Enfant" in 2005, "we're starting with a serious handicap," joked Jean-Pierre Dardenne in an interview with AFP before leaving for Cannes.

For a film, "Cannes can be a loudspeaker or the Terminator," he said of Cannes' notoriously picky journalists and critics whose opinions can make or break a movie.

Their "Young Ahmed", which premiered at the festival, is a tight and tense tale of a teenager who embraces Islamic extremism, a sensitive topic in their native Belgium that suffered deadly attacks in 2016.

Like their previous gritty slices of working-class life, the picture is set in their native French-speaking Wallonia, an area that served as the base for the terror cell that also carried out the deadly attacks on Paris in November 2015.

"We don't make a film on a theme, we make a film on characters, we are telling the story of a child," said Jean-Pierre Dardenne, whose films are dark portraits of the region's most blighted corners.

The brothers, who are often called Belgium's kitchen-sink answer to the Coen brothers, said deadly Islamist attacks in recent years drove them to explore how young people can be led so far astray.

"We start the film with a boy who's been radicalised and try to tell how he can or cannot leave this kind of enchantment and come back to earth," Jean-Pierre, 68, told AFP.

"Our film looks at religion, how it can attract or take possession of you completely," Luc, 65, told AFP, noting that it was less concerned with the economic and social factors that usually dominate their movies.

Belgium's Dardenne brothers, already Cannes legends, with two Palme d'Or prizes under their belt, added to their tally on Saturday with the best director award for their story of a radicalised Muslim youth, "Young Ahmed".

Belgium's Dardenne brothers, already Cannes legends, with two Palme d'Or prizes under their belt, added to their tally on Saturday with the best director award for their story of a radicalised Muslim youth, "Young Ahmed". After "Rosetta" in 1999 and "L'Enfant" in 2005, "we're starting with a serious handicap," joked Jean-Pierre Dardenne in an interview with AFP before leaving for Cannes. For a film, "Cannes can be a loudspeaker or the Terminator," he said of Cannes' notoriously picky journalists and critics whose opinions can make or break a movie. Their "Young Ahmed", which premiered at the festival, is a tight and tense tale of a teenager who embraces Islamic extremism, a sensitive topic in their native Belgium that suffered deadly attacks in 2016. Like their previous gritty slices of working-class life, the picture is set in their native French-speaking Wallonia, an area that served as the base for the terror cell that also carried out the deadly attacks on Paris in November 2015. "We don't make a film on a theme, we make a film on characters, we are telling the story of a child," said Jean-Pierre Dardenne, whose films are dark portraits of the region's most blighted corners. The brothers, who are often called Belgium's kitchen-sink answer to the Coen brothers, said deadly Islamist attacks in recent years drove them to explore how young people can be led so far astray. "We start the film with a boy who's been radicalised and try to tell how he can or cannot leave this kind of enchantment and come back to earth," Jean-Pierre, 68, told AFP. "Our film looks at religion, how it can attract or take possession of you completely," Luc, 65, told AFP, noting that it was less concerned with the economic and social factors that usually dominate their movies.

Cannes legends the Dardenne brothers win best director

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Spike Lee accidentally announces 'Titane' as Palme d'Or winner at Cannes before time

Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' to compete for Palme d'Or at Cannes

Cannes legends the Dardenne brothers win best director