Sean Baker’s Anora has won the Palme d’Or.
No matter what film won this prize, one of the most prestigious in the world for any film, it was always going to be a statement.
In being selected as the jury president for this year’s Cannes, Greta Gerwig has been enshrined into a higher echelon of renown and respect in the industry. While this pick for the Palme may not stand as one of her more noteworthy acts, it reflects her tastes as an artist and will be helpful in examining her career retrospectively.
This year’s Cannes has brought with it splashy debuts of long-gestating passion projects, like Megalopolis and Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1, which got big notices but have been met with mixed receptions.
It is noteworthy that of the four female-directed films in the official competition this year, two took home major prizes. Coralie Fargeat won Best Screenplay for The Substance, while All We Imagine as Light, by Payal Kapadia, took home the Palme runner-up prize, the Grand Prix.
These awards are significant and encouraging as both films are very diverse in tone and subject – something evident even without having seen them – which speaks to and encourages female directors to continue making distinctive, idiosyncratic films and will hopefully further the progress brought on by recent Palme winners Titane and Anatomy of a Fall.
Related: Female filmmakers at Cannes
Whilst Anora may be directed by a man, it is undeniable that as a director, Sean Baker has spotlighted women in his films and is continuing to do so with Anora. Whether it’s the class consciousness of The Florida Project or a having a trans protagonist played a trans actor in Tangerine. Like the aforementioned film, Anora is about a sex worker (Mikey Madison), which is a subject matter rarely given prominence in films and even less commonly treated with respect or sensitivity.
Baker is certainly an interesting filmmaker, and this choice is not some regressive one, even if it may be disappointing that the number of female filmmakers who have won the Palme remains at a pitiful number of three in history.
This year, and previous recent Cannes, speaks to the fact that the Official Competition at the festival benefits from the most diverse lineup possible, and continuing to give female filmmakers the opportunity to compete on an equal level will keep the festival engaging and exciting.
Of course, it’s nice for the festival to prioritise diversity simply because it’s a good precedent, but looking at the buzziest films coming out of this Cannes, it’s clear that films like The Substance and All We Imagine as Light were provoking a lot of the conversation.
Even beyond the official lineup, The Balconettes, which played out of competition, got a good reception and is clearly one of the films to watch in the coming months.
Cannes is an exciting time of year for any film fan, whether you’re there or not. Seeing the reception come in as each film is screened and what gets the longest absurd standing ovation is something that is the best mix of silly and compelling. It helps act as a launching pad for many films to earmark for the coming months, and so naturally, it’s good for the festival to have inclusivity and intersectionality amongst its priorities when composing the Official competition and the other films that play in the festival.
It’s been an exciting festival this year, seeing the divisive reactions to some of the films and being made aware of certain films that have garnered the most passionate responses. It will be interesting to see which, if any, of these films follow a similar path of success to recent Cannes premieres like Anatomy, Drive My Car, or Parasite as the year unfolds.
One thing is for certain, though, even with the lower number of films from women this year, they still managed to make a significant impact, and that is something that cannot be ignored when discussing the festival.
