Palms awarded in Cannes: Jury Prize for Aki Kaurismäki’s Filmstiftung-backed drama "Fallen Leaves" – a total of four prizes for NRW productions at the 76th Festival de Cannes

• Orlando Bloom presents Jury Prize to the lead actors of "Fallen Leaves
• Freedom Prize in Un Certain Regard for "Goodbye Julia" by Mohamed Kordofani
• FIPRESCI Prize in Un Certain Regard for "The Settlers" by Felipe Gálvez
• Grand Prize of the Critics’ Week for "Tiger Stripes" by Amanda Nell Eu
• Golden Palme for "Anatomy of a Fall" by Justine Triet with Sandra Hüller

The 76th Festival de Cannes came to an end on Saturday evening with the gala awards ceremony as prizes were handed out at the Grand Théâtre Lumière by the jury headed up by Ruben Östlund. There was great applause for the Jury Prize for Aki Kaurismäki’s "Fallen Leaves", which was presented by Orlando Bloom to the film’s two lead actors who conveyed a short speech of thanks from the director. Awards had previously gone to another three Filmstiftung-backed co-productions: "Tiger Stripes" by Amanda Nell Eu (Critics’ Week), "Goodbye Julia" by Mohamed Kordofani and "The Settlers" by Felipe Gálvez (Un Certain Regard).

"Congratulations on the Jury Prize for 'Fallen Leaves'! We would like to extend our hearty congratulations to Aki Kaurismäki, his two wonderful lead actors Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, and his producer Reinhard Brundig from Pandora Film. 'Fallen Leaves' had already moved the entire Grand Théâtre Lumière to tears at its world premiere last Monday and has since been regarded as a festival favourite by critics and the industry alike," says Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. "Cannes had gathered some great films in the Competition as well as the other festival sections. So, we are very happy about the awards for Sutor Kolonko for 'The Settlers' by Felipe Gálvez, for Weydemann Bros for 'Tiger Stripes' by Amanda Nell Eu, and for the DGS company for 'Goodbye Julia' by Mohamed Kordofani. Our special congratulations also go to Wim Wenders for 'Perfect Days' and to Sandra Hüller who was brilliant in no less than  two Competition films."

Jury Prize for "Fallen Leaves" / Competition

Aki Kaurismäki’s "Fallen Leaves" is a gentle tragicomedy about two lonely people who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and try to find the first love of their lives. Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen play the couple in the story about love, solidarity, hope, respect for people and nature. Cologne-based Pandora Film co-produced the drama which saw Kaurismäki travelling to Cannes for the first time since his FIPRESCI Prize-winning "Le Havre" in 2011. The Match Factory is handling world sales.

FIPRESCI Prize for "The Settlers" / Un Certain Regard

The jury under the chairmanship of John C. Reilly and including actress Paula Beer had presented the FIPRESCI Prize earlier on Saturday to  "The Settlers", the feature-length debut of Chilean director Felipe Gálvez, whose third short film had previously been screened at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique. "The Settlers" is an international co-production by Cologne-based Sutor Kolonko.

Freedom Prize for "Goodbye Julia" / Un Certain Regard

The awards for the Un Certain Regard sidebar had already been announced on Friday evening by the jury headed by John C. Reilly and including the actress Paula Beer (Silver Bear for "Undine"). The Freedom Prize went to "Goodbye Julia" by the writer-director Mohamed Kordofani, who made his feature film directorial debut with the drama. The international co-production was made in Sudan and produced on the German side by Die Gesellschaft DGS. Die Gesellschaft DGS and director Kordofani had already been involved in the production of the film "You Will Die at Twenty" by Amjad Abu Alala, which was also backed by the Filmstiftung, won an award in Venice in 2019, and represented Sudan in the competition for the Oscars.

Grand Prize for "Tiger Stripes" / Critics’ Week

The Critics’ Week’s Grand Prize of 10,000 Euros had already been presented to  "Tiger Stripes" by Amanda Nell Eu on Wednesday, 24 May. Audrey Diwan had headed up the jury, with actor Franz Rogowski ("Undine") as one of its members.  Malaysian writer-director Amanda Nell Eu’s "Tiger Stripes" is a story about 12-year-old Zaffan who struggles with puberty and discovers a terrifying secret about her physical self. The production from Malaysia, was co-produced by Cologne-based Weydemann Bros.

NRW with seven supported films in Cannes

A total of seven Filmstiftung-backed productions were selected to screen at the film festival: the international co-production "Kidnapped" by Marco Bellochio was also shown in the Competition along with "Fallen Leaves" by Aki Kaurismäki. Amat Escalante's "Lost in the Night" screened in the Cannes Premieres section, and  "The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry" by the KHM graduate Faris Alrjoob was shown in Quinzaine des Cinéastes.

The Film- und Medienstiftung presented the film region of NRW during the festival at  the German Pavilion, the joint stand of Focus Germany and German Films in the Marché du Film/ Village International.