I, Daniel Blake has taken home this years Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) at the 2016 Cannes Fim Festival. Big hits like the German comedy Toni Erdmann and,Jef Nichols Loving and Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson were shut out. This is Director’s Ken Loach 2nd Palme d’Or for he won in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Directors with more than one Palme d’Or also include Michael Haneke, Billie August, the Dardenne brothers and Francis Ford Coppola.
I, Daniel Blake directed by Ken Loach is aboout a 59-year-old joiner in the North-East of England who falls ill and requires state assistance. While he endeavours to overcome the red tape involved in getting this assistance, he meets single mother Katie, who, in order to escape a homeless persons’ hostel, must take up residence in a flat 300 miles away.
The rest of the Cannes winners:
Palme d’Or: Ken Loach, ‘I, Daniel Blake’
Grand Prix: Xavier Dolan, “It’s Only The End of the World”
Jury Prize: Andrea Arnold, “American Honey”
Best Actress: Jaclyn Jose, “Ma Rosa”
Best Actor: Shahab Hosseini, “The Salesman”
Best Director: Olivier Assayas, “Personal Shopper” & Cristian Mungiu, “Graduation”
Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, “The Salesman”
Camera d’Or: “Divines,” Houda Benyamina
Queer Palm (Feature): “Les Vies de Thérèse,” Sébastien Lifshitz
Queer Palm (Short): “Gabber Lover,” Anna Cazenave-Cambet.
