Sex worker won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival

The winning film of the Cannes Film Festival is about sex work: it shows the relationship between an escort girl and a Russian oligarch

The awards of the 77th Cannes Film Festival were handed out on Saturday evening. The jury awarded the Palme d'Or to the crazy American comedy Anora, but the stories of oppressed Indian women, a director who escaped from Iran, were not overshadowed either by the story of the sex worker.

Prior to the announcement of the winner of the Palme d'Or, George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars universe, was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival. Entering the stage to Star Wars-themed music, Lucas was given a standing ovation and a long cheer by the audience of more than two thousand people, which apparently moved the eighty-year-old writer-director-producer.

The award was presented to him by another big name, Francis Ford Coppola, who called Lucas his little brother and recalled that he accepted the role of mentor on the condition that the young filmmaker would come up with new ideas every day. Lucas completed this challenge without any problems.

The festival's main prize, the Palme d'Or, was announced by the president of the jury, but Lucas handed it to Sean Baker for the wild, troubled comedy Anora, in which

a striptease dancer, the child of a Russian oligarch and some hitmen go on a rampage for almost two and a half hours.

Anora follows the relationship between a New York escort girl doing her erotic adult job and the son of a Russian oligarch.

They marry on a whim in Las Vegas, angering their relatives. And what starts out as a modern Cinderella story turns into a frenzied comedy.

Baker has already portrayed the life of prostitutes in several films, such as Tangerine and The Florida Project.

Baker has directed several films about sex work

In his acceptance speech, Baker highlighted the influence of Coppola and David Cronenberg, among others, and pointed to the Palme d'Or and stated:

That's been my only goal for the past thirty years, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do from now on. But I know that I will continue to fight to make films that are shown in cinemas.

Finally, he couldn't miss a short detour regarding adult work, as he dedicated the award to "all past, present, and future sex workers".

Throughout his career, Sean Baker has described and documented the lives of sex workers and porn stars.

And his interest is not so surprising, as he says he can see a happy ending massage parlor from his kitchen, so he is not far from the world of massage jobs either.

In addition to the film about sex work and adult jobs, others also excelled

The grand prize of the jury was won by Payal Kapadia's film "All We Imagine as Light", which will also be shown in cinemas. The film focuses on the story of three women living and working as hospital nurses in Mumbai, who constantly, perhaps hopelessly, fight against the rules that limit their freedom, yet never become victims.

The Indian director, for whom this is only their second feature film, primarily thanked the three actresses.

The third most important recognition, the jury's prize, went to Jacques Audiard's gangster musical "Emilia Pérez".

Deviating from the custom that a film can win only one award, this film also won the award for best actress, which was not awarded to one actress, but to the four female protagonists: the transgender actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who is transgender playing the gangster protagonist in both male and female bodies, as well as Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz.

Gascón accepted the award and dedicated it to transgender people.

The best director award went to Miguel Gomes from Portugal for the film "Grand Tour" with a special atmosphere. The story is about a determined woman who follows her fiance who has left her through Asia. The film is sometimes set in 1918, sometimes in the present day, sometimes in black and white, sometimes in color, and always somewhat dreamlike.

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In an unusual way, the jury also awarded a special prize, drawing attention to Mohammad Rasoulof from Iran. Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging for his secret film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig". The film is about an Iranian lawyer, whose promotion and the disappearance of his service weapon fuel increasing tensions between him, his wife and two daughters.

The director, who recently fled Iran, said:

My thoughts are with my colleagues who remained in Iran and I am very sad to see the suffering of the Iranian people who have become hostages of the totalitarian regime.

Jesse Plemons won the best actor award for his excellent performance in Jorgosz Lánthimosz's film "Kinds of Kindness", although he was not present at the gala. In the film, Plemons brilliantly plays three roles: a man who will do anything for the love of Willem Dafoe, a husband who almost goes crazy after his wife disappears, and a devoted cult member.

One of the most controversial films of the festival, the body horror "The Substance", in which Demi Moore plays the lead role, plastically presenting the social description of aging women, won the award for best screenplay.

Writer-director Coralie Fargeat emphasized in her acceptance speech that her film

is about women and how violent the world still is towards them.

She added that she believes that movies can make a difference in the world, and she hopes that this movie can be a small step in that direction. She stated: "We need a revolution that I don't think has started yet. Let's start it together!"

Source: 24.hu