Perhaps the biggest surprise hit of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was Un Certain Regard, the festival’s second most prestigious division. Screened to thunderous applause on the festival’s first Friday, Jordan Firstman’s directorial debut Club Kid was sold by A24 for a whopping $17 million after a multiple bidding war, making it the festival’s biggest seller so far.
The film, described by Variety magazine’s chief film critic Guy Lodge as “a sweet, surprisingly old-fashioned, heartwarming piece,” was widely praised, but failed to win any awards, as First Man went home empty-handed with his pockets full.
The night’s biggest winner was Sandra Wallner’s “Everytime,” a moving story about grief told through tragedy that unites a mother, daughter, and teenage boy. The Austrian director took to the stage to thank his team of contributors, many of his fellow writers, and himself, telling the audience to “keep coming up with these weird, weird ideas” that creators tend to ignore at first, but “hopefully stay with us a little longer.”
Other winners include Avinash Bikram Shah’s Elephants in the Mist, the first Nepali film to screen at Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy, a hand-drawn animated feature that Sony Pictures Classics acquired earlier this week for television in North America, Latin America, India and Southeast Asia. Variety critic Siddhant Adlakha, who reviewed both winners, called Bikram Shah’s story about the “transactional nature of trans acceptance in South Asia” a “powerful tale of loss, loneliness, and despair” and Krissy’s childhood drama “visually dazzling and deeply personal.”
Dozens of the film’s contributors began dancing around director Thierry Frémaux in Cannes as the “Elephants in the Mist” team brought the party to the stage. Director Bikram Shah was visibly moved and told the audience, “Movies have the power to look into the shadows.” “By bringing our story[to the festival]and having it recognized with this award, you have made the invisible visible,” he told the jury.
elephant in the fog
Courtesy of UTN, Les Valseurs and DGS
In terms of acting, the UCR jury awarded awards to the female trio of Daniela Marin Navarro, Marina de Tavira and Mariangel Villegas for their central roles in Valentina Morel’s “Forever Mother,” and to Bradley Fiomona Denbearset for her role in Rafiki Fariara’s “Congo Boy.” A ball of energy, Fiomona Demberset thrilled the audience in the Debussy screening room by ending her passionate acceptance speech in song with the powerful declaration, “I am a young Congolese! I am a refugee! I am a star!”
The chair of this year’s jury in the Un Certain Regard section was French actress Leila Bechti, who shot to fame with Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Prize-winning film The Prophet. Director Bekti was joined by French director Thomas Cayley, whose film Animal Kingdom was released on UCR in 2023, as well as Senegalese producer Angele Diabangu, Italian director Laura Samani, and Lebanese composer Khalid Muzanar.
Full list of winners:
Un Certain Regard Award: “Everytime” by Sandra Wallner
Jury Award: “Elephant in the Mist” by Avinash Bikram Shah
Special Jury Award: “Iron Boy” directed by Louis Clichy
Best Actress: Daniela Marin Navarro, Marina de Tavira, Mariahel Villegas (“Mother Animal Forever”)
Best Actor: Bradley Fiomona Dembersett (“Congo Boy”)
