http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080525/ap_en_mo/film_cannes_awards

French classroom drama wins Cannes’ top prize
By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer 15 minutes ago

CANNES, France (AP) — The French film “The Class,” a frank tale about classroom life using real students and teachers at a junior high school, won top honors Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Laurent Cantet, “The Class” (”Entre les Murs”) was the first French film to win the main prize, the Palme d’Or, at Cannes since “Under Satan’s Sun” in 1987. The docudrama was shot in a raw,

Benicio Del Toro won the best-actor prize for “Che,” Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour-plus epic about Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara. Presented as two films, “Che” follows Guevara and Fidel Castro’s triumphant guerrilla campaign to overthrow Cuba’s government in the late 1950s and Guevara’s downfall and execution after trying to foment a similar rebellion in Bolivia in the 1960s. Del Toro, who co-starred in Penn’s “21 Grams,” also won in a unanimous jury vote, Penn said. “I’d like to dedicate this to the man himself, Che Guevara,” said Del Toro. He also thanked Soderbergh, “who got up every day, forced me to this. … He was there pushing it, and he pushed all of us.” Soderbergh directed Del Toro to the supporting-actor Oscar for 2000’s “Traffic.”

Sandra Corveloni was chosen as best actress for “Linha de Passe,” in which she plays the mother of four brothers struggling to make better lives for themselves in a Brazilian slum. It was her first role in a feature film.

The Cannes jury awarded special prizes to Clint Eastwood, who directed the competition film “Changeling,” and Catherine Deneuve, who appeared in two films at Cannes this year. Eastwood was shut out for key prizes with “Changeling,” his warmly received missing-child drama starring Angelina Jolie.

Eastwood, who delivered two best-picture and director Academy Award recipients with “Unforgiven” and “Million Dollar Baby,” has never won top honors at Cannes after five times in competition there since 1985. Jury president Penn won the best-actor Oscar for Eastwood’s “Mystic River,” which was shut out for prizes at Cannes five years ago.

61st Festival de Cannes Award to Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood

President Sean Penn awarded a Special Award of this 61st Festival de Cannes to the French actress Catherine Deneuve and director/actor Clint Eastwood.

The Grand Prize was awarded by Roman Polanski to director Matteo Garrone for Gomorrah.

This must be a mistake.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080525/ap_en_mo/film_cannes_awards: French classroom drama wins Cannes’ top prize.

Major bummer – tonight hubby & I went to see the trailer & Indy Jones. No trailer! Now I have to call around to see wshere it’s playing.