The 61st Cannes Film Festival Awards

At yesterday’s closing of the Cannes Film Festival, a French film - the first since 1987 - walked away with this season’s Palme d’Or (Best Movie). The Class, a true story about a group of Parisian teachers and students, rose to the top of what has been widely-considered a disappointing crop of films. A pair of Italian films - Gomorra and Il Divo - nabbed the Grand Prix and Jury Prize respectively.

Two names well known to American audiences were also honored at the 61st annual event. Actor Benicio Del Toro was deemed Best Actor by the nine-member jury for his work in Che, another project with Traffic‘s Steven Soderbergh. (The movie about Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara rang in at a whopping four hours.) Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood received a ‘Special Prize’ for his body of work (one of two handed out this year). Although his latest film, Changeling, received a heaping of praise, it was unfortunately left out of the major prizes.

A full list of the winners can be found here.

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Hollywood Reporter

Quentin Tarantino Plays Film Guru at Cannes

Just when legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino had seemed to have had enough with Cannes, organizers of the event announced last Thursday that he will be teaching this year’s Cinema Masterclass.

It is no doubt that the living icon will have more than enough to teach upcoming directors, for he himself has not only won the 1994 Palme d’Or award for Pulp Fiction, but also appeared as a judge for the festival in 2004. Along with his overwhelming accomplishments, Tarantino’s affinity and love for film have always made his interviews and speaking events quite memorable for fans everywhere.

Previous teachers of the Masterclass include Sydney Pollack, Stephen Frears and most recently, Martin Scorsese.

Who knows, perhaps this will push him to finish Inglorious Bastards, eh?

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Hollywood Reporter