The Cannes Film Festival occurred from May 17 to May 28. Cannes is one of the most important festivals in the film industry, being a part of the big five: Cannes Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival. This year was the 75th edition of the festival, and it contained homages to famous actors such as Tom Cruise. Top Gun: Maverick was released at the festival, and Cruise received an honorary Palme d’Or.

Film festivals are a chance for filmmakers to network, get known around the world, and get distribution for their films. The awards for this year’s Cannes were recently given out, and they highlight some of the best new films and filmmakers that cinephiles should be paying attention to. Here are the big winners from this year’s Cannes festival.

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Jury Prize - Eo and Le Otto Montagne

     Vision DistributionPyramide Films

The Jury Prize was given to two movies, Eo and Le Otto Montagne.

Eo was directed by Polish filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor Jerzy Skolimowski, who has been directing films since the 1960s. The movie (which features the great Isabelle Huppert) is a reference to the French classic Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson, and tells the story of a donkey that performs in a circus and is taken care of by the young Kasandra. The characters share a sweet relationship until they are forced to separate; if Eo is anything like Bresson’s film, it will be a painfully sad, spiritual stunner.

Le Otto Montagne (or Eight Mountains) was directed by Belgium actress Charlotte Vandermeersch and her husband Belgium filmmaker and screenwriter Felix van Groeningen (an Oscar nominee). The movie is an adaptation of the novel by the Italian author Paolo Cognetti, a story about the friendship over the years between two men in the Alps who are separated due to outside forces, such as family and social classes.

Best Director - Decision to Leave

     CJ Entertainment

The great South Korean director Park Chan-wook won the prize for Best Director for his movie Decision to Leave. A thriller about a detective who falls in love with a possible murder suspect in her husband’s death, Decision to Leave promises to bring the same cold but exciting intensity Park Chan-wook has brought to similar movies like Oldboy and The Handmaiden. The director describes the film by saying, “The detective loves his work. When he’s investigating the crime scene, it’s as though he’s reading a love letter when he’s on the crime scene. He sees Seo-rae, and it’s a kind of love. It’s a paramount importance for both the characters.”

Best Screenplay - Boy From Heaven

The Best Screenplay award was given to Swedish journalist and director Tarik Saleh for his political thriller Boy From Heaven. A man is ecstatic after the son of a fisherman is offered the opportunity of studying at the best university in Cairo, Al-Azhar University. However, one of the highest-ranking religious leaders of the university dies, and the protagonist finds himself in the middle of a mighty conflict between the religious and political elite.

Saleh is a fascinating director, having directed episodes of premier television like Westworld and Ray Donavan, but also making documentaries about Guantánamo and Che Guevara, and actually released an English-language action film with Chris Pine and Ben Foster, The Contractor, the same year as his much more artistic Boy From Heaven.

Best Actress - Holy Spider

     Alamode FilmTriArt Film

The Best Actress award was given to Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahimi for her performance in Holy Spider. The actress was exiled from Iran after an alleged sex tape was leaked in 2006, (which may have been an edited fake). Holy Spider was based on a true story of a serial killer that killed prostitutes in the early 2000s called Spider Killer. In the film, Ebrahimi plays a journalist trying to solve a series of murders involving prostitutes in Mashad.

“This film is about women, it’s about their bodies, it’s a movie full of faces, hair, hands, feet, breasts, sex – everything that is impossible to show in Iran,” Ebrahimi said. The movie was not well received in Iran, being called by the Culture Ministry an insult to religious beliefs, continuing Ebrahimi’s critiques of her country’s government. The director of Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi, is well known for the slightly surreal and masterful film Border.

Best Actor - Broker

     CJ E&M

The Best Actor award was given to South Korean actor Song Kang-ho for his performance in Broker. He is also in Decision to Leave, and has worked with some of the best directors in South Korea, including Bong Joon-ho. The story follows a group of friends as they try to sell a baby left in an adoption box and, in the process, become their own family. The movie received a 12-minute standing ovation during its screening and also received the Ecumenical Jury Award for best film. Broker is directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, who is responsible for some of the best Japanese movies of recent years and is a modern master.

The Grand Prix - Stars at Noon and Close

     A24

The Grand Prix was given to two movies, Stars at Noon and Close.

Stars at Noon was directed by the great French filmmaker and writer Claire Denis. The movie got mixed reviews from the director’s long-time fans, nevertheless, it won one of the biggest awards of the night. Stars at Noon is based on a novel by an American writer, Denis Johnson, about the Nicaraguan Sandinista revolution in 1984. The story follows a young American journalist that sees herself stuck in Nicaragua midst of a revolution. There, she encounters an Englishman who seems like her best shot to escape; but things are not always what they seem.

     The Match Factory

Close was directed and co-written by Belgian filmmaker and screenwriter Lukas Dhont. An incredibly sad coming-of-age film about two 13-year-old boys and their friendship. The characters enroll in a new school, and their classmates are immediately bothered by their close relationship. Close is a sensitive critique of what it means to be a man in today’s society, fraternal love, mental health, and homophobia.

Camera d’Or - War Pony

     CaviarFelix Culpa

Camera d’Or was given to filmmakers Gina Gammell and Riley Keough for War Pony. It was Keough’s directorial debut, and she also co-produced the movie alongside Gina. This movie is an indigenous coming-of-age story that follows two young men in the reservation with unusual ways of trying to make money: breeding a poodle and selling meth. The movie contains non-actors so that the film would feel authentic to the story they were trying to tell. The directors are currently working on another project, but nothing was revealed yet.

Short Film Palme d’Or - The Water Murmurs

The Short Film Palme d’Or was given to the Chinese short film The Water Murmurs by director Story Chen. The narrative is about a woman who has to move from her hometown because of a flood due to rising tides because of an asteroid hitting the earth. She then has to say goodbye to the place she has always known while also think about the future.

Palme d’Or - Triangle of Sadness

     Neon

The Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund won the Palme d’Or, which is the top prize at Cannes and one of the most prestigious awards of the film industry, for his movie Triangle of Sadness. Östlund won the same prize five years earlier with The Square. This year’s best film winner is a dark satirical comedy about the fashion world and materialism in general. The story follows a couple, both of them are models. The man’s career is struggling while the woman is on the verge of a breakthrough. She’s s invited to a luxury cruise, so they both go. The cruise sinks, leaving the guests on a desert island. Östlund said to The Hollywood Reporter, “This idea of sexuality and beauty as a currency for men I found interesting, in this world where we mostly see women dealing with these kinds of situations.”