South Korean social satire "Parasite" wins Palme d'Or at Cannes
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's social satire "Parasite," about a poor family of hustlers who find jobs with a wealthy family, has won the Cannes Film Festival's top award, the Palme d'Or. The win for "Parasite" marks the first Korean film to ever win the Palme. The awards were handed out in a ceremony Saturday after being chosen by a jury presided over by filmmaker Alejandro Inarritu.
- Life
- Reuters
- Published Date: 09:28 | 25 May 2019
- Modified Date: 09:59 | 25 May 2019
"Parasite", a suspenseful dark comedy about class struggles directed by South Korea's Bong Joon-Ho, won the top Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.
The award adds to a successful run at the French cinema showcase for Asian films after Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda clinched the prestigious gong last year.
Bong, who made his mark at Cannes in 2017 with Netflix-produced "Okja", set his latest movie in modern South Korea.
It follows a down-on-their-luck family of four who spot an opportunity to con a wealthy household into giving them jobs.
They worm their way into the other family's lives - before things start going south.
This year's Cannes film festival also shone a light on newcomers, in an unusually crowded field.
"Atlantics", a ghost story about migrants directed by Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, won the runner-up Grand Prix award.
The movie, based on her 2009 short documentary, was Diop's first feature-length film.
Spain's Antonio Banderas won the male acting prize for his role as a tortured filmmaker in Pedro Almodovar's loosely biographical "Pain And Glory" - one of the films that had been tipped for the top honour.
Britain's Emily Beecham was crowned best actress after starring in Jessica Hausner's "Little Joe" as a botanist who starts having doubts about her latest genetically-modified creation when it begins to affect her loved ones.
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne won best director for "Young Ahmed."