First Awards Announced

The official Cannes Festival awards are always preceded by the announcement of prizes for the films which screened in two other Cannes selections.



- At Directors Fortnight (La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), the Art Cinema Award, judged by a jury of independent art-house operators; the SACD Prize, which is awarded by the French authors-rights management society and for which only French-language features are eligible, and the 7th "Regards Jeunes," given to a director for his or her first or second feature-length film, all rewarded a single effort: I Killed My Mother by Canadian Xavier Dolan.

Art Cinema Special Mention: La Merditude des Choses ("The Shittiness of Things") by the Belgian Félix van Groeningen.

The Europa Cinema Prize, awarded by movie-theater operators to the best European film in the Fortnight: La Pivellina, by Austrians Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel,

SFR Prize for Best French Short: Montparnasse by Mikhaël Hers.



- Critics Week ("La Semaine Internationale de la Critique") awards:

Le Grand Prix de la Semaine Internationale de la Critique, awarded to ground-breaking films which are debut or second features: Adieu Gary by Nassim Amaouche (France).

SACD (Société des Auteurs Compositeurs Dramatiques) Prize: Lost Persons Area by Caroline Strubbe (Belgium/Netherlands/Hungary).

The ACID/CCAS Support Award, from French independent-film distributors; the OFAJ/TV5 Monde (Very) Young Critic Award; and the "Regards Jeunes," judged by seven young European cinephiles invited by the French Ministry of Youth Affairs, were all awarded to a single feature: Whisper with the Wind by Shahram Alidi (Iraq).

Grand Prix Canal + for Best Short Film: Slitage, by Patrick Eklund (Sweden)

Kodak Discovery Award for a Short Film: Logorama by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, and Ludovic Houplain.



-The France Culture Cinema 2009 Award, which awards a filmmaker each year for his/her body of work and commitment, was awarded to screenwriter-director François Dupeyron. The honors were bestowed by a Jury headed by actress Sandrine Bonnaire. François Dupeyron was grateful and stated, "Filmmakers have a big responsibility when they permeate the spirit of their audiences…And that is why I refuse to make violent films.”