And after all the terrific press and wonderful buzz, “Waltz With Bashir” waltzes out of Cannes empty handed. No Jury Prize, not even FIPRESCI. A shut-out. Damn.

“The Seven Days”, playing the Critic’s Week, also came out without a prize.

But patriotism aside, the list of winners in the official competition is mind-blowing to me. Three of my current favorite filmmakers won awaards: the amazing and explosive Paolo Sorrentino, the touching and lyrical Nuri Bilge Ceylan and the razor-sharp precise Laurent Cantet, the winner of the Palme D’or. All three are not house-hold names of yet but they represent the best of European cinema there days - at least to my eyes, that prefer the poetic and the formalistic to the gritty and realistic (i.e The Dardenne Brothers).
I haven’t seen any of their new films (but I have seen all of their previous ones), and I’m now salivating with anticipation.

The list of awards:

Palme d’Or to ‘The Class’ by Laurent Cantet
61st Festival de Cannes Award to Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood
Grand Prize to “Gomorrah” by Matteo Garrone
Best Screenplay to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for “Lorna’s Silence”
Best Director to Nuri Bilge Ceylan for “Three Monkeys”
Best Actor to Benicio Del Toro for his role in ‘Che’ by Steven Soderbergh
Best Actress to Sandra Corveloni for ‘Linha De Passe’ by Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas
Jury Prize to Paolo Sorrentino for “Il Divo”
Best Short Film Palme d’Or to “Megatron” by Marian Crisan
Caméra d’Or: “Hunger” by Steve McQueen

The list of independent awards (handed out yesterday).