Cannes 2014 Predictions: Mommy and Winter’s Sleep Top Predix

Erik Anderson May 23, 2014

It’s almost time for the 67th Cannes Film Festival to wrap up and give out its awards so you know what that means…Awardswatch predictions! Despite a slightly shortened festival, the buzz this year has been very high and many films. And, as with every year, some headscratchers as to why certain things made it into competition (The Search, Captives) and why some from Un Certain Regard did not (Bird People, for one, as championed by NYT critic Manhola Dargis). The talk this week has been around Cannes wunderkind Xavier Dolan and his fifth film, Mommy. At just 25, his career has been a prolific one, with all of his films appearing at the festival. Mommy is his first In Competition film. Also atwitter has been Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water, but probably not in the way she was hoping for. After having been very vocal about winning the Palme this year for her “masterpiece,” when the film was unveiled it was met with mixed reviews, criticism and even a walkout by Dargis (see above article). Kawase has previously won at Cannes; the Camera d’Or in 1997 for Suzaku and the Grand Prix in 2007 for The Mourning Forest. One wonders if the jury decides to award her anything but the Palme will she protest it on stage like Theo Angelopoulos when he lost the Palme to Emir Kuristica’s Underground in 1995?

Every year there’s a biggie that gets shockingly snubbed. Last year it was Italy’s The Great Beauty, which, ironically, went on to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

2010: Another Year
2011: Le Havre
2012: Holy Motors
2013: The Great Beauty
2014: ?

Who will it be this year?

Below are predictions from Awardswatch members, myself included. What do you think? Join the conversation here or in the forums.

Xavier Dolan's Mommy — Xavier Dolan’s *Mommy*

Erikdean

Palme d’Or – Winter Sleep
Grand Prix – Goodbye to Language 3D
Prix du Jury – The Wonders
Director – Xavier Dolan, Mommy
Actor – Gaspard Ulliel, Saint Laurent
Actress – Juliette Binoche, Clouds of Sils Maria
Screenplay – Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner — Mike Leigh’s *Mr. Turner*

Rage Colored Glasses

Palme d’or: Mommy
Grand Prix: Leviathan
Prix du Jury: Timbuktu
Director: Naomi Kawase, Still the Water
Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Screenplay: Winter Sleep

The Dardennes' Two Days, One Night — The Dardennes’ *Two Days, One Night*

Jonathan

Palme d’Or: Two Days, One Night
Grand Prix: Leviathan
Prix du Jury: The Wonders
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako, Timbuktu
Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
Actress: Anne Dorval, Mommy
Screenplay: Winter Sleep

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep — Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s *Winter Sleep*

Kostas

Palme d’Or: Mommy
Grand Prix: Leviathan
Prix du Jury: Timbuktu
Director: Alice Rohrwacher, The Wonders
Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner/Channing Tatum, Foxcatcher
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Screenplay: Winter Sleep

Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu — Abderrahmane Sissako’s *Timbuktu*

just me

Palme d’Or: The Wonders
Grand Prix: Timbuktu
Prix du Jury: Mommy
Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Two Days, One Night
Actor: Haluk Biginer, Winter Sleep
Actress: Anne Dorval, Mommy
Screenplay: Leviathan

Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent — Bertrand Bonello’s *Saint Laurent*

Shy_Hallaman

Palme d’Or: Winter Sleep
Grand Prix: Leviathan
Prix du Jury: Still the Water
Director: Bertrand Bonello, Saint Laurent
Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Screenplay: Mommy

Olivier Assayas's Clouds of Sils Maria — Olivier Assayas’s *Clouds of Sils Maria*

SALO

Palme d’Or: Goodbye to Language 3D
Grand Prix : Leviathan
Jury Prize: The Wonders & Timbuktu (tie)
Best Director: Xavier Dolan, Mommy
Best Actor: Channing Tatum, Foxcatcher
Best Actress: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria
Best Screenplay: Winter Sleep

Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan — Andrey Zvyagintsev’s *Leviathan*

caseyfan14

Palme d’Or: Winter Sleep
Grand Prix: Leviathan
Prix du Jury: The Wonders
Director: Naomi Kawase, Still the Water
Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Screenplay: Mommy

Alice Rohrwacher's The Wonders — Alice Rohrwacher’s *The Wonders*

Sliced Peach

Palme d’Or: Mommy
Grand Prix: The Wonders
Prix du Jury: Leviathan
Director: Naomi Kawase, Still the Water
Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Screenplay: Two Days, One Night

Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher — Bennett Miller’s *Foxcatcher*

Atonement.

Palme D’Or: Winter Sleep
Grand Prix: Goodbye to Language 3D
Prix du Jury: Timbuktu
Director: Xavier Dolan, Mommy
Screenplay: The Wonders
Actor: Steve Carrell, Foxcatcher
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars — David Cronenberg’s *Maps to the Stars*

DirkDiggler

Palme d’Or: Mommy
Grand Prix: Winter Sleep
Prix du Jury: Leviathan
Director: Naomi Kawase, Still the Water
Actor: Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Screenplay: Maps to the Stars

Consensus:

Palme D’Or – Mommy/Winter Sleep (4 mentions each)
Grand Prix – Leviathan (5)
Prix du Jury – The Wonders/Timbuktu (4)
Director – Naomi Kawase, Still the Water (4)
Actor – Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner (6)
Actress – Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night (7)
Screenplay – Winter Sleep (4)

Mommy is the only film that shows up in every set of predictions somewhere.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.