“HaHaHa,” a Korean film directed by Hong Sangsoo, has won the top prize at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.
The Un Certain Regard prizes were among several different awards handed out at the festival on Friday. The Cinefoundation awards, for student films, and the Ecumenical Jury awards were also announced, as were the FIPRESCI awards handed out by an international critics group.
The Palme d’Or and other awards for the main Cannes competition will be handed out at a ceremony on Sunday night.
“Octubre” (“October),” written and directed by Diego and Daniel Vega, was awarded the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, while the Best Actress award was shared by Eva Bianco, Victoria Raposo and Adela Sanchez from the Argentinian film “Los Labios” (“The Lips”).
“Hahaha” (below) deals with a Korean filmmaker and a critic friend who share their memories of a summer night that they unknowingly spent in the same place, with the same people.
Un Certain Regard was a selection of 19 films screening as a sidebar to the main Cannes competition. Films in the section included Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine,” with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams; Jean-Luc Godard’s controversial “Film Socialisme”; and “The Strange Case of Angelica,” from 101-year-old director Manoel de Oliveira.
The Un Certain Regard jury was headed by filmmaker Claire Denis.
In other Cannes prizes, the Cinefoundation awards, which go to student films, were also announced, with a film from Finland taking the top award.
First prize went to “Taulukauppiatt” (“The Painting Sellers”) by Juho Kuosmanen, second prize to “Coucou-Les-Nuages” (“Anywhere Out of the World”) by Vincent Cardona, and third prizes to “Hinkerort Zorasune” (“The Fifth Column”) by Vatche Boulghourjian and “Ja Vec Jesam Sve Ono Sto Zelim da Imam” (“I Already Own Everything I Want to Have”) by Dane Komljen.
Canadian director Atom Egoyan headed the Cinefoundation jury.
The Cannes Ecumenical Jury awarded its main prize to Xavier Beauvois’ “Des homes et des Dieux”) (“Of Gods and Men”), with special mentions to Mike Leigh’s “Another Year” and Lee Chang-dong’s “Poetry.”
The International Federation of Film Critics, meanwhile, somewhat surprisingly awarded the top FIPRESCI award to actor-turned-director Mathieu Amalric’s “Tournee” (“On Tour”), which had not generally received positive reviews.
The FIPRESCI awards, which are not part of the official Cannes program, go to films in the main competition, Un Certain Regard, and Directors Fortnight or Critics’ Week sections. They tend to be awarded to up-and-coming filmmakers rather than established ones.
FIPRESCI chose the Hungarian film “Pal Adrienn” as the best film in Un Certain Regard, and Olivier Laxe’s “Todos vos sodes capitans” as the best of the Directors Fortnight or Critics’ Week.
