On Saturday 24 May the prizes at the 78th Festival de Cannes were awarded. The Ecumenical Jury awarded its prize to ‘Jeunes mères’ by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium, France 2025). The film was also awarded the prize for Best Screenplay. The Palme d'Or went to ‘It Was Just an Accident’ by Jafar Panahi (Iran, France, Luxembourg 2025). The director was allowed to leave Iran for the first time in years.
The festival's Grand Prix went to ‘Affeksjonsverdi’ (Sentimental Value, Norway, France, Denmark, Germany 2025) by Joachim Trier. The Jury Prize was shared by ‘Sirât’ by Oliver Laxe (Spain, France 2025) and ‘Sound of Falling’ (Germany 2025) by Mascha Schilinski. Kleber Mendonça Filho was awarded the prize for Best Director for his film ‘O agente secreto’ (The Secret Agent, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Germany 2025), which was also honoured by the Jury of International Film Critics (Fipresci).
The Festival de Cannes opened on 13 May with ‘Partir un jour’ (France 2025) by Amélie Bonnin out of competition. INTERFILM and SIGNIS sent an Ecumenical Jury of six members for the 51st time. It awards a prize for a film in the international competition, which comprised 22 films in 2025. The international festival jury was chaired by Juliette Binoche. At the festival's opening American actor Robert de Niro received an Honorary Palme d'Or for his life's work.