Cannes: Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax’ Wins Top Director’s Fortnight Prize
No one was more surprised than director Gaspar Noé himself when his new film, Climax, was met was near universal raves when it debuted in the Director’s Fortnight section of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. So ready to be hated and vilified, the poster for the film even says “You Despised I Stand Alone. You Hated Irreversible. You Loathed Enter the Voice. You Cursed Love. Now Try CLIMAX.”
Well, we did and now it’s won the top prize from the festival section, the Art Cinema Award. The film is about a dance troop who inadvertently all drink some LSD-spiked sangria (called by some ‘Step Up on acid’) and devolve into an orgy of debauchery. Climax was picked up by A24 for US distribution.
Here is the full list of winners from the 2018 Cannes Director’s Fortnight.
ART CINEMA AWARD
“Climax,” (Gaspar Noé, France, Belgium)
EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL
“Lucia’s Grace (Gianni Zanasi, Italy)
SACD PRIZE
“The Trouble With You,” (Pierre Salvadori, France)
ILLY SHORT FILM AWARD
“Skip Day,” (Patrick Bresnan, Ivete Lucas)
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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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.
- Sophie Hyde’s ‘Jimpa,’ starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, to Open Both NewFest and Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festivals - April 17, 2025
- 2025 Tribeca Festival Television Lineup Includes World Premieres of ‘Smoke’ with Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett, ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 and More - April 17, 2025
- Comedian Nate Bargatze to Host 2025 Emmy Awards - April 16, 2025
Sophie Hyde’s ‘Jimpa,’ starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, to Open Both NewFest and Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festivals 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 95 – ‘Ishtar’ (Elaine May, 1987) 
2025 Tribeca Festival Television Lineup Includes World Premieres of ‘Smoke’ with Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett, ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 and More 
Interview: Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran Talk Found Families, Holding Space For Real-Life Pain Alongside Onscreen Representation and More in ‘The Wedding Banquet’