Oh, Cannes-ada: 'Mommy' and 'Maps to the Stars' Bring 2 Cannes Wins for Canadian Film

The Mommy team at Cannes

Well, we didn't take the Palme, but today's award ceremony at Cannes notes a landmark year for Canadian films. Canuck films Mommy and Maps to the Stars took two of the top prizes. The wins cap off an exciting week for Canadian film that got off to a rocky start when the third Canadian film in the competition, Atom Egoyan's The Captive, opened to a chorus of boos and scathing reviews.

Canada's Xavier Dolan wins the Jury's Prize for 'Mommy' at #Cannes2014 by @AlbertoPizzoli pic.twitter.com/7rThuwb6h8
— AFPredcarpet (@AFPredcarpet) May 24, 2014

Xavier Dolan's Mommy tied with Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language for the Jury Prize, which marks the equivalent of a third place win. That's quite a feat, although the match-up of a twenty-five year-old director and an eighty-three year old director seems like a cute play of jury politics. Dolan was largely tipped for the win and his walk to the stage was marked by a smattering of cries "Palme!" that were even audible on the video stream. It's a notable win nevertheless for the young Canadian director in his first inclusion in the official selection at Cannes and the rave reviews for Mommy alone should be a source of pride. The Palme winner, Winter Sleep, was a mild surprise since most critics and pundits at the fest tipped Dolan or Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan for the win, or the Dardenne brothers' Two Days, One Night, which was shut out altogether.

Julianne Moore in Maps to the Stars

The other notable Canuck win went to Julianne Moore for her acclaimed performance in David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars. Cronenberg's film, a biting Hollywood satire, drew some of the best reviews for the director since 2005's A History of Violence. Moore wasn't on hand to collect the prize, but her win could give the controversial film some extra steam in the months too come. Maps to the Stars probably won't see the same odds of making a Cannes/Oscars crossover that fellow winners Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) and Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner) could see, but next year's Canadian Screen Awards could be in for quite the Best Actress smackdown between Moore and Mommy's Anne Dorval.

 

Cannes Winners:

Palme d’or: Winter Sleep by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Grand prix (runner-up): Le meraviglie (The Wonders) by Alice Rohrwacher

Jury Prize: Mommy by Xavier Dolan; Goodbye to Language by Jean-Luc Godard

Best Director: Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars

Best Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Best Screenplay: Leviathan - Andrey Zvyagintsev, Oleg Negin

Camera d’or (Best First Feature): Party Girl Maria Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis

Palme d’or court metrage (Best Short Film): Leidi, Simon Mesa Soto (Honorable mention: Aïssa and Yes We Love)

The jury for this year’s Cannes Film Festival was led by Jane Campion (The Piano) and included Carole Bouquet (For Your Eyes Only), Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring), Leila Hatami (A Sepraration), Jeon Do-Yeon (The Housemaid), Willem Dafoe (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien), Jia Zhangke (A Touch of Sin), and Nicolas Winging Refn (Drive).