BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR IS FIRST GAY-THEMED FILM TO WIN CANNES’ PALME D’OR

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Abdellatif Kechiche’s drama Blue is the Warmest Color has won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Described in virtually every news report as “the lesbian drama,” the French film was screened near the close of the festival and immediately shot to the front of the list of favorite contenders. The Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, which had been among the frontrunners won the second-place Grand Jury Prize. The jury, headed by Steven Spielberg, spread its awards over a number of well-received films. Bruce Dern won the best actor award for his role as an elderly alcoholic in the first stages of dementia in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, and Berenice Bejo was named best actress for her performance as a woman who is revisited by her estranged husband in Asghar Farhadi’s The Past.Mexican director Amat Escalante won the best director award for his drug-war film Heli.