Cannes Film Festival 2017: here are the big winners at the main awards

The 2017 Cannes Film Festival has come to a close, and all the artsiest of the artsy have celebrated their wins, regretted their losses and bagged some film concepts that started on Tumblr.

So if you’ve not been keeping up with the little town in France, here’s who won big in the festival’s main competition.

The Palme d’Or: The Square, Ruben Östlund

Swedish film The Square won the coveted Palme d’Or in a surprise upset. The satirical drama was up against Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here and Netflix’s controversial entries Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories, among others.

Directed by Ruben Östlund, The Square is about Christian, a man who converts the Stockholm Palace into an art gallery after the fall of the Swedish Monarchy. When he hires a PR company to promote an installation, drama ensues.

It apparently explores themes of political correctness, and the plight of a modern man.

Starring Elizabeth Moss and Dominic West, The Square represents a rare win for comedy.

Grand Prix: 120 Beats Per Minute, Robin Campillo

The second-most prestigious award went to the French 120 Beats Per Minute, directed by Robin Campillo, whom many pegged for the Palme d’Or.

Campillo described himself as “an ACT UP militant in the ’90s,” who fought for legislation, medical research and treatment for the AIDS pandemic in Paris.

120 Beats Per Minute is a feature film that follows a gay couple navigating living with one of them being HIV positive. It was amazing.

— Kevo Q (@crimson_qian) May 20, 2017

120 BEATS PER MINUTE is a really strong film that’s stayed with me since i saw it. glad to see it recognized. #Cannes2017 predictions

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) May 28, 2017

Jury Prize: Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev

The Jury Prize used to be for the second best film in competition, but now it’s seen as the third-most prestigious prize at the festival, behind the Palme d’Or and the Grand Prix.

This year, the prize went to Russian film Loveless, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. It follows a married couple, in the midst of a heated divorce, who are forced to look for their missing child when the police won’t help them.

Andrey Zvyagintsev looks a tad disappointed for scoring the @Festival_Cannes Prix du Jury for Loveless, my fave of the fest.

— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) May 28, 2017

The film has racked up an impressive 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic from IndieWire calling it “absorbing even when it doesn’t go anywhere.”

Best director: Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled

Sofia Coppola was the second woman ever to win best director at Cannes, scoring the award for her remake of the eponymous 1971 film The Beguiled.

It stars Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell and was quick to woo critics at the festival.

THE BEGUILED is a whole lotta fucking fun, ravishingly shot, with a “damn she’s good” MVP performance from Kirsten Dunst #Cannes2017

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 24, 2017

THE BEGUILED is I suspect what happens when you say “Siri, make me a perfect movie” #Cannes2017

— Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) May 24, 2017

THE BEGUILED: Gorgeously-shot feminist Civil War fable. Coppola’s best since LOST IN T. Nicole Kidman is on absolute fire at #Cannes2017

— Nikola Grozdanović (@nikgroz) May 24, 2017

Jane Campion, the only woman to have directed a Palme d’Or winner, told Vulture this week that her record is “insane.”

“Too long!” she said, referring to how she won for The Piano back in 1993. “Twenty-four years! And before that, there was no one.”

Best actor: Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here

Directed by Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here tells the story of a war veteran determined to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring.

Yeah. Lynne Ramsay is fucking back. You Were Never Really Here is is a tour-de-force, beautifully shot and totally bonkers. #Cannes2017

— Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) May 26, 2017

Joaquin Phoenix is *unreal* in YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE. great choice for Best Actor. #ButAdamSandlerWasRobbed #Cannes2017

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) May 28, 2017

In a bit of juicy celebrity gossip, Phoenix and his long-rumoured girlfriend Rooney Mara finally made their relationship public at the festival.

Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix at the moment when Joaquin won best actor for “You Were Never Really Here” in #Cannes70 pic.twitter.com/YbYOiW95kW

— rooney mara (@badpostrooney) May 28, 2017

And in a charming moment, Phoenix seemed completely caught off-guard by his win.

What ? I Win #JoaquinPhoenix#Cannes2017#Cannes#BestActorpic.twitter.com/yVzDVsbp43❤️❤️

— Elvis Phoenix 🍁 (@phoenix_elvis) May 28, 2017

Best actress: Diane Kruger, In the Fade

In the Fade is a German-language film directed by Fatih Akin. The film centres on Katja, a woman who lost her family to an anti-immigrant terror attack.

In the Fade – German woman goes for revenge after her family is killed in a bombing. Diane Kruger totally owns this role. The film is aces.

— Alex Billington (@firstshowing) May 26, 2017

IN THE FADE is strong and serious but a little normal. Kruger is solid. Expect a less interesting Hollywood remake! #Cannes2017

— Jordan Hoffman (@jhoffman) May 26, 2017

Fatih Akin’s IN THE FADE isn’t terrible, but it’s painfully contrived and Oscar-baity. It’ll probably win the Palme d’Or #Cannes2017

— Sam Gray (@samgraay) May 26, 2017

The film has received mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes — currently sitting on a square 50% — but the jurors at Cannes saw something in Kruger’s performance, choosing her over favourite Nicole Kidman.

Best screenplay: The Killing Of A Sacred Deer & You Were Never Really Here

Best screenplay was a tie win this year going to Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou for The Killing of a Sacred Deer, as well as Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here.

The former is the second film in the competition starring both Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. It tells of a doctor who adopts a teenage boy into his family, but as the young man grows more and more sinister, the doctor is forced to make a difficult decision.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the scariest film I’ve seen in years. Psychological horror in the truest sense. Very Lathimos. #Cannes2017

— Sam Gray (@samgraay) May 22, 2017

The Killing Of a Sacred Deer is a scathing indictment of upper-class disconnection, disguised as the most chilling horror film imaginable

— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikLAT) May 22, 2017

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is classic Lanthimos. Twisted, wicked and wholly his own. @BarryKeoghan crushes it. #cannes70

— Joe Utichi (@joeutichi) May 22, 2017

Short Film Palme d’Or: A Gentle Night, Qui Yang

Qui Yang is the first Chinese director to win the Short Film Palme d’Or for the short A Gentle Night.

“In a nameless Chinese city, a mother with her daughter missing, refuses to go gentle into this good night,” reads the description.

Only stand out & lock for Short Film Palme d’Or if y’ ask me: QIU Yang’s
XIAO CHENG ER YUE/A GENTLE NIGHT. Beautiful, touching. #Cannes2017 pic.twitter.com/De9ov8s3Jk

— Niels Putman (@NielsPutman) May 23, 2017

A special mention was awarded to The Ceiling by Finnish director Teppo Airaksinen.

Camera d’Or: Jeune Femme, Leonor Serraille

The Golden Camera is awarded to the best debut feature film of a director who has not had any film over 60 minutes released theatrically.

This year the award went to Leonor Serraille for her film Jeune Femme.

And the Camera d’Or goes to Leonor Séraille’s JEUNE FEMME. A brutally honest but self-aware film about what it means so be a woman.

— Another Gaze (@anothergaze) May 28, 2017

Director Léonor Serraille was pregnant during the filming of Jeune Femme and dedicates her award to her daughter. ❤️

— Women Film Directors (@women_direct) May 28, 2017