Japanese director Hizokazu Kore-eda's "Shoplifters," a tender portrait of a poor family, has won the Palme d'Or, the top award at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
In the closing ceremony Saturday, the jury selected one of the festival's most acclaimed entries, one hailed as a modest masterpiece from a veteran filmmaker renowned for his delicate touch. "Shoplifters" is about a small-time thief who takes a young girl home to his family; after seeing scars from abuse, they decide to keep her and raise her as their own.
While many speculated that the jury led by Cate Blanchett might award only the second Palme d'Or to a film directed by a woman, the most likely contender — Lebanese director Nadine Labaki's "Capernaum" — was instead given Cannes' jury prize. The film drew a rousing standing ovation but less enthusiastic critic reviews for its tale of a 12-year-old boy living in poverty who sues his parents for neglect.
Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," the highest profile U.S. film in competition, was awarded the grand prize. The film ignited the French Riviera festival with its true tale of a black police detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Lee connected the film to modern day with real footage from last year's violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va.
The 12-day festival, the first since the downfall of film mogul Harvey Weinstein (for decades an annual fixture in Cannes), was shaken by debate over gender equality in the film industry and at Cannes.
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