2018 Cannes: ‘Border,’ ‘Girl,’ win top Un Certain Regard awards

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The Un Certain Regard section of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival has given the troll romance film Border (Gräns) its top award, the Grand Jury Prize. The film was picked up by Neon for US distribution. Check out my review of the film here.

Newcomer Victor Polster won the jury’s Performance award for playing a transgender girl with hopes of being a ballerina in Girl (review here).

Sergei Loznitsa won the Director prize for the section’s opening night film, Donbass.

A big snub came when Bi Gan’s huge festival favorite Long Day’s Journey Into Night went home empty-handed.

The jury was led by Benicio del Toro and also included actress Virginie Ledoyen, director Kantemir Balagov, writer-director Annemarie Jacir and Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger.

Prizes for the In Competition films will be announced tomorrow night.

Here is the full list of UCR winners.

Grand Prize: Border, Ali Abbasi
Director: Donbass, Sergei Loznitsa
Performance: Victor Polster, Girl
Screenplay: Sofia, Meryem Benm’Barek
Sound Creation: Border
Special Jury Prize: The Dead and the Others, João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora

Full list of eligible films

Border, Ali Abbasi
Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Bi Gan
Manto, Nandita Das
Girl, Lukas Dhont
Donbass, Sergei Loznitsa (Opening Night film)
Muere, Monstruo, Muere, Alejandro Fadel
Gueule D’ange (Angel Face), Vanessa Filho
Euphoria, Valeria Golino
Rafiki (Friend), Wanuri Kahiu
Mon Tissu Préféré (My Favorite Fabric), Gaya Jiji
Die Stropers (The Harvesters), Etienne Kallos
In My Room, Ulrich Köhler
El Angel, Luis Ortega
Sofia, Meryem Benm’Barek
The Dead and the Others, João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora
The Gentle Indifference Of The World, Adilkhan Yerzhanov
À Genoux Les Gars (Sextape), Antoine Desrosières