Cannes 2018: Ali Abbasi’s Off-Kilter Fairy Tale ‘Border’ Wins Un Certain Regard Prize
As this year’s Cannes Film Festival continues to wind down, with all eyes on Saturday’s Palme d’Or presentation, other sections of the lauded French festival are keeping busy announcing their own big winners. Just yesterday, Directors’ Fortnight bestowed its highest honor, the Art Cinema Award, to Gaspar Noé for his “Climax.” Today, the Un Certain Regard section is revealing its winners, and Ali Abbasi’s gender-bending fairy tale “Border” took the top prize.
In IndieWire’s review, Eric Kohn wrote that it “builds out such an unusual premise that it risks devolving into quirky inanity, but Abbasi grounds the narrative in an emotional foundation even as it flies off the rails.” NEON purchased the film out of the festival.
This year’s Un Certain Regard jury was presided over by Benicio Del Toro, along with Annemarie Jacir (Palestinian director and writer), Kantemir Balagov (Russian director), Virginie Ledoyen (French actress), and Julie Huntsinger (American executive director, Telluride Film Festival). The section played home to 18 films in competition, including six first films.
“We feel that out of 2000 films considered by the Festival, the 18 we saw in Un Certain Regard – from Argentina to China – were all in their own way winners,” the jury said in an official statement. “Over the past 10 days, we were extremely impressed by the high quality of the work presented, but in the end we were the most moved by the following 5 films.”
Check out the full list of winners below.
Un Certain Regard Prize: “Border,” directed by Ali Abbasi
Prize for Best Screenplay: “Sofia,” by Meryem Benm’barek
Prize for Best Performance: Victor Polster for “Girl,” directed by Lukas Dhont
Prize for Best Director: Sergei Loznitsa for “Donbass”
Jury Special Prize: “The Dead and the Others,” directed by Joao Salaviza and Renee Nader Messora
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