Latin America Cinema Wins Big at Cannes

Franco was the only Hispanic in the running for the Palme d’Or with a complex film shot entirely in English and starring Tim Roth.

The panel of judges included filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen and actor Guillermo del Toro, among others.

The award comes to Franco three years after he won the Prize Un Certain Regard at Cannes for “After Lucia.”

Meanwhile, Colombian director Cesar Acevedo won the Camera d’Or award for Best First Feature for “La tierra y la sombra,” which tells the story of a man’s journey back home to care for his dying son.

The only Latin American documentary this year at Cannes, “Allende, mi abuelo Allende,” by Chilean-Mexican Marcia Tambutti, received the first L’Oeil d’Or award in that category for her work about her grandfather, former Chilean President Salvador Allende.

The Amazon saga “El abrazo de la serpiente” (Embrace of the Serpent) by Colombia’s Ciro Guerra, won the Art Cinema Award, while Argentina’s Santiago Mitre won the Critics’ Week prize for “Paulina (La Patota).”

In the overall competition, it was Jacques Audiard’s “Dheepan” – a drama about Tamil refugees building a new life in France – that won the Palme d’Or this year, with “Son of Saul,” a Holocaust drama directed by Laszlo Nemes taking the runner-up Grand Prix award.

The Best Director prize went to Hou Hsiao-Hsien for “The Assassin,” and Vincent Lindon won Best Actor for his work in “The Measure of a Man,” while Rooney Mara in “Carol” and Emmanuelle Bercot for “Mon Roi” shared the Best Actress award.

This year, the Jury Prize was presented to Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos for “The Lobster,” a science-fiction romance.