Some extracts from Cannes 2011 Festival winners’ speeches

Maryna Vroda (Short Film Palme d’or for Cross): “When I got to Cannes, I couldn´t sleep. Then I made a decision. Whatever happens, I said to myself, award or no award, I´m going to carry on making films.”

Wannes Destoop (Short Film Jury Prize for Badpakje 46): “It was a big surprise, especially as it’s my final-year film. I never dreamed I’d be selected. When I received the call from the Festival, my heart started pounding. Receiving this award here today is just amazing. I can’t believe it!” 

Pablo Giorgellia (Caméra d’or for Las Acacias, selected in the Critic’s Week section) declared: “my film was screened on Friday 13th. Today is yet another lucky day. I’m now going to go and further try my luck at the casino tonight”.

Maiwenn (Jury Prize for Polisse (Poliss)): “I was afraid of getting carried away by all the excitement and forgetting to name people, particularly those who had faith in me from day one. (…) I’m not very close to my parents, but oddly enough, when I found out that I’d been selected for Cannes, I wanted them to be there, whereas I didn’t want them to be at my wedding… I made it all my own. You could hardly say that they helped and encouraged me. It’s certainly no coincidence that I made a film about psychological and physical abuse”.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Grand Prix Ex-aequo for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia)) : “This award exceeds all my expectations because my feature isn’t a straightforward film and it was screened at the end of the festival, so I thought that the Jury, press and general public would find it tiring to watch. (…) I hope this type of award will be a boost for Turkish cinema and the latest young generation of filmmakers.”

Nicolas Winding Refn (Award for Best Director for Drive) : “I have no doubt that this award is going to open a lot of doors for me, to the same extent as winning the Palme d’Or. The Award for Best Director is the award that highlights the work of the director. (…) Now we’re becoming more and more taken with the idea of a Drive 2. And we said to Ryan Gosling that, in the future, we could also make a real Hollywood movie.”

Bill Pohlad (producer of The Tree of Life, Palme d’or): “I spoke to Terry today. He was excited, but he’s a very humble and very shy person. He doesn’t want to play the part of celebrity. He doesn’t want to turn into a celebrity”. 

Jean-Pierre Dardenne (Grand Prix Ex-aequo for Le Gamin au Vélo (The Kid With A Bike)): “This award is amazing. Just being selected was fantastic. The entire international press saw our film in just two days and, to top it all, it was well received by the critics.”

Jean Dujardin (Award for Best Actor for The Artist):”I took a real childlike pleasure in receiving this award from Robert De Niro. I don’t make films anymore really, and this hasn’t made me want to start doing so again. (…) the script seemed impossible to pull off. I thought it was an incredibly brave thing to do at a time marked by films like Avatar and 3D cinema.

Comments recorded by A.C. and B. de M.
pictures by AFP
 – from the Festival’s website –

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