The Winners at Cannes

American director and screenwriter Terrence Malick took top honors at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or for The Tree of Life, the epic story of a young Texan growing up in the 1950s—only the fifth feature film in the elusive filmmaker’s long career.

The Grand Prix—effectively second prize—was shared by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Andalusia), and the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, for Le Gamin au Vélo (The Kid with a Bike).

The Best Actress award went to American Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia, despite the strange outburst of positive remarks about Hitler that caused that film’s director, Lars Von Trier, to be declared persona non grata at the festival.

The very popular French comedian Jean Dujardin was named Best Actor for The Artist—a daring silent film by director Michel Hazanavicius about an early film star whose career is threatened by the arrival of talkies.

The Prix du Jury went to the French writer, director and actress Maïwenn Le Besco, for Polisse, the documentary-style story of police officers in a Juvenile Protection Unit.

President of this year’s nine-member jury, Robert De Niro was surprised by a standing ovation as the award ceremonies got started.