Michael Haneke’s Amour wins Palme d’Or at Cannes

Michael Haneke has claimed his second Palme d’Or, taking home the top prize at the 65th Cannes Film Festival for Amour.

Haneke was previously awarded the trophy in 2009 for his black-and-white examination of festering evil in The White Ribbon.

The 2012 jury – headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti – did not reach a unanimous decision on any of their prizes, but they must have fallen for the Austrian director’s tale of a husband caring for his dying wife.

Benh Zeitlin’s Sundance hit Beasts of the Southern Wild was awarded the Camera d’Or for Best First Picture. Like Amour, it will make its Australian debut at the Sydney Film Festival next month.

The Grand Prix (2nd place) was handed out to Moretti’s fellow countryman Matteo Garrone for Reality. Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas was named Best Director for Post Tenebras Lux, while Ken Loach – whose The Wind That Shakes The Barley earned the top festival award several years earlier – saw his new flick The Angels’ Share win the Jury Prize.

Former Palme d’Or victor Cristian Mingiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days) picked up Best Screenplay for Beyond the Hills, which tells of two female friends in a Romanian monastery, one of whom wants to leave and is subsequently accused of having been possessed. The two leads, Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan, were jointly named Best Actress.

Mads Mikkelsen collected the Best Actor accolade for staring as a man suspected of molesting a child in Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt.

A number of high-profile American features played In Competition, including Wes Anderson‘s Moonrise Kingdom, Jeff Nichols‘ Mud, and Lee Daniels‘ much-maligned follow-up to Precious, The Paperboy. All were overlooked at the awards ceremony. Also ignored: Andrew Dominik‘s Brad Pitt toplined Killing Them Softly (formerly Cogan’s Trade), John Hillcoat‘s Lawless, David Cronenberg‘s Cosmopolis, and Leos Carax‘s confounding dark horse, Holy Motors.

This year’s jury included Hiam Abbass, Andrea Arnold, Emmanuelle Devos, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Diane Kruger, Ewan McGregor, Alexander Payne, and Raoul Peck.

Discuss: Which of these are you most looking forward to seeing when they eventually hit Australia?