The Palme d'Or of this 57th edition of the Festival de Cannes was presented by Charlize Theron to Michael Moore for his film, Fahrenheit 9/11.
"I can't begin to express my appreciation and my gratitude to the jury, the Festival, to Gilles Jacob, Thierry Frémaux, Bob and Harvey at Miramax, to all of the crew who worked on the film. [...] I have a sneaking suspicion that what you have done here and the response from everyone at the festival, you will assure that the American people will see this film. I can't thank you enough for that. You've put a huge light on this and many people want the truth and many want to put it in the closet, just walk away. There was a great Republican president who once said, if you just give the people the truth, the republicans, the Americans will be saved. [...] I dedicate this Palme d'Or to my daughter, to the children of Americans and to Iraq and to all those in the world who suffer from our actions. "
The Grand Prix was presented by Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd to Park Chan-wook for his film, Old Boy.
"I would like to thank all the members of the Jury and the Cannes Festival," said the South Korean director. "I met Roman Polanski at a party and we had our photograph taken together. That was already such an honour that I really didn't expect to win a prize [...] The fact that this great director said 'good luck' to me was such an honour. I dedicate this prize to the whole crew."
The Best Actress Award went to Maggie Cheung for her role in Clean directed by Olivier Assayas.
“It's really an incredible time in my life,” Maggie Cheung said. “I would like to thank the Cannes Festival for having invited us this evening. I want to thank the jury for having given us this prize. Clean wasn't easy to get made and I also want to thank the three producers [...] And thank you too Olivier.”
The Best Actor Award went to the 14-year old Yuuya Yagira for his role in Nobody Knows directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.
With Yuuya Yagira back in Japan, it was director Hirokazu Kore-eda who collected the award on his behalf. At the post-awards press conference, the director gave his impressions. “This prize is deserved, because we worked for a year with the children, and I think that you can see their progress in the film during that year [...] I chose Yagira at an audition. What made me choose him was his eyes. [...] Yagira is at middle school and he had to return to Japan to take his exams. I just telephoned him to tell him the good news, and he was very happy. He thinks he failed his exam, but he hopes that with this prize, his teacher might be more understanding.”
The Best Director Award goes to Tony Gatlif for Exils.
"Thank you Gilles Jacob; thank you Thierry Frémaux, merci Señor Presidente – gracias, merci to all the members of the jury" said the director in his acceptance speech. "A film isn't made alone; there's a team, who I forced to become nomadic for three months, on the roads of France, Spain, on the sea, in Morocco and Algeria. I owe this film to the crew [...] We didn't have much money. This film was produced at great risk thanks to all these people who worked so hard and who believed in it [...] Cinema is made with money, long live auteur cinema."
Best Screenplay Award goes to Comme une Image (Look at Me) by French duo Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri.
Agnès Jaoui, who also directed the film, thanked her crew, her producers, and her singing teacher. "Me too," Jean-Pierre Bacri added laconically.
"It's a prize that suits us perfectly," Agnès Jaoui declared at the press conference, "because for us the screenplay is what's most important in a film. [...] On the set, nothing was improvised."
The Jury Prize goes to actress Irma P. Hall for her role in The Ladykillers by the Coen brothers and to Tropical Malady from the Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He thanked the jury with all his heart. "It's a great honour for me to be here because it's the first Thai film to be shown in [competition at] the Cannes Festival. And we have a prize, which represents a great privilege. I'd like to thank the jury and the Festival for having invited me. I would like to dedicate this prize to my family, my mother and my father who passed away before we finished filming." (...)