“Anatomy of a Fall,” a courtroom mystery directed by Justine Triet, has won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival — making the French filmmaker only the third woman to take home the coveted Palme d’Or.
The other two female filmmakers were Jane Campion, who won for 1993′s “The Piano,” and Julia Ducournau, who took home the grand prize with “Titane,” a 2021 body-horror psychological drama.
Triet was introduced by Jane Fonda at the award ceremony Saturday night. The two-time Oscar winner told the audience about coming to the festival in 1963 — when no female filmmakers were nominated — and not even thinking “there was something wrong with that.”
This year, however, seven out of the 21 films in competition at the prestigious festival were directed by women — an all-time high.
After an electrifying standing ovation, Triet dedicated her award “to all the young women directors and all the young male directors and all those who cannot manage to shoot films today.”
“We must give them the space I occupied 15 years ago in a less hostile world where it was still possible to make mistakes and start again,” she added.
“Anatomy of a Fall” — which tells the story of “a woman accused of killing her husband” and the moral dilemma their blind son faces as the sole witness — stars German actress Sandra Hüller in the main role.
The Grand Prix, the festival’s second prize, went to “The Zone of Interest,” a war drama directed by Jonathan Glazer and also starring Hüller.