2023 Cannes Film Festival awards predictions: In the ‘Zone’ of the Palme?

It’s not unusual for the in competition players to be well-worn names at Cannes. Todd Haynes, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nanni Moretti and Ken Loach have all made several appearances in the main lineup over the years with several wins between them as well. Loach alone has two Palme d’Or wins and three Jury Prizes. Marco Bellocchio is on his 8th Palme contender this year and, at 83-years-old, has yet to win.

But, as each year has a new jury and a new president and is supposed to have a simple democratic vote, it is interesting to see establishment winners across decades. Something we often ask ourselves when looking at potential Cannes winners, and certainly in the aftermath of them, is how influential their leader. is. Sometimes it appears easy to peg a strong connection between a jury president and a Palme winner, like Tim Burton and 2013 winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. It tracks, right? But then, does Steven Spielberg’s aesthetic align with Blue is the Warmest Color? Not really. We’ve always had rumors and fact-based stories on jury deliberation, most notably in 1989 when Wim Wenders (who is in competition this year) and his group were not into perceived frontrunner, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, and instead went with Steven Soderbergh’s directorial debut sex, lies and videotape, vaulting him into a substantial Hollywood career that included a hit franchise (the Ocean‘s series) and an Oscar (Traffic).

Ruben Östlund, two-time Palme d’Or winner and head of the in competition jury this year, cheekily remarked, “If it’s the best film we are going to give it the Palme,” adding, “I will definitely work very hard to get over my own egoistic goals of being the first director with three Golden Palmes.”

Winners for the in competition films as well as Camera d’Or prizes and more will be held live in Cannes at the Grand Palais theater on Saturday, May 27 at 8:30pm. This year, the ceremony will be live-streamed around the world for free on the Brut America Facebook page when the ceremony begins at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT. Red carpet and press conference coverage will also be available on the official Cannes Film Festival YouTube channel.

As a reminder, joining Östlund in these decisions are:

• Paul Dano, American actor and director
• Julia Ducournau, French director and screenwriter
• Brie Larson, American actress and director
• Denis Ménochet, French actor
• Rungano Nyoni, Zambian-Welsh screenwriter and director
• Atiq Rahimi, Afghan director and writer
• Damián Szifrón, Argentinian director and screenwriter
• Maryam Touzani, Moroccan director and actress

Also, if a film wins the Palme, it cannot win any other prizes so deliberation takes that into account. The 21 films in competition this year are:

Here are my predictions for the in competition awards of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Palme d’Or: The Zone of Interest (Glazer)
alt: Anatomy of a Fall (Triet)

Grand Prix: Monster (Kore-eda)
alt: May December (Haynes)

Prix du Jury: Fallen Leaves (Kaurismäki)
alt: La Chimera (Rohrwacher)

Director: Tran Anh Hung (The Pot-au-Feu)
alt: Marco Bellocchio (Kidnapped)

Actor: Charles Melton – May December (Haynes)
alt: Josh O’Connor – La Chimera (Rohrwacher)

Actress: Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall (Triet)
alt: Natalie Portman – May December (Haynes)

Screenplay: Four Daughters (Ben Hania)
alt: Club Zero (Hausner)