Mohammad Rasoulof’s “Lerd” (“A Man of Integrity”) has been named the best film in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, a jury headed by Uma Thurman announced on Saturday in an awards ceremony at the Salle Debussy.
The drama deals with corruption in a small town in Iran and stars Reza Akhlaghirad and Soudabeh Beizaee. Rasoulof shot the film in Iran, but he told TheWrap that the film will not be shown in that country because of censorship restrictions.
Taylor Sheridan, the only American director in Un Certain Regard, won the best director award for “Wind River.” Michel Franco won the Jury Prize, essentially the second-place award, for “April’s Daughter.”
The acting award went to Jasmine Trinca for “Fortunata.”
In addition to Thurman, the jury also included Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, Belgian director Joachim Lafosse, French actor Reda Kateb and Karlovy Vary Film Festival director Karel Och.
Un Certain Regard consisted of 18 films, including Valeska Grisebach’s “Western,” Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Beauty and the Dogs,” Li Ruijun’s “Walking Past the Future,” Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Before We Vanish,” Laurent Cantet’s “The Workshop” and Santiago Mitre’s “The Summit.”
The Palme d’Or and other awards for the main competition will be handed out on Sunday in a ceremony at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.
The awards:
Un Certain Regard Prize: “Lerd,” Mohammad Rasoulof
Jury Prize: “April’s Daughter” (“Las Hijas de Abril”), Michel Franco
Prize for Best Direction: Taylor Sheridan, “Wind River”
Prize for Best Actress: Jasmine Trinca, “Fortunata”
Prize for the Best Poetic Narrative: Mathieu Amalric, “Barbara”