Mascha Schilinski becomes first German Director to win Cannes jury prize

For the first time in the history of the film festival, a German director has been honored in Cannes: Berlin filmmaker and screenwriter Mascha Schilinski received the Jury Prize for “In die Sonne schauen" (Sound of Falling)” on Saturday. The Palme d'Or went to the secretly shot film by Iranian director and dissident Jafar Panahi “Un Simple Accident”. Other prizes went to the political thriller “The Secret Agent” and the film drama “La Petite Dernière”.

‍

“She is the first German director to win an award in Cannes,” said the President of the German Federal Film Board, Bernd Neumann, congratulating Schilinski on her “sensational success”. The 41-year-old Schilinski accepted the award at the closing gala from US actress Da'Vine Joy Randolph. She was the only one of seven female directors who took part in the competition to receive an award.

‍

She had “difficulty writing her acceptance speech”, joked Schilinski, referring to a power cut in the south of France on Saturday that lasted more than five hours.  The film “In die Sonne schauen" is set on a remote farm in the Altmark region of eastern Germany, where the life stories of four women from different generations intersect. “We wanted to find out how trauma shapes our bodies over generations,” said Schilinski.

‍

The idea for the film came to her and co-writer Louise Peter when they were on that abandoned farm in the Altmark and discovered a historical photo of three women who had lived there. The film will be released in Germany on September 11. Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer congratulated Schilinski on her film, “which touches us with its visually powerful narrative form and its quiet but haunting power”. It is a great success for the director “who has found her very own film language and is now also causing a stir internationally”, explained Weimer.

‍

Schilinski shares the jury prize with Spanish director Oliver Laxe, who was honored for the road movie “Sirat”, in which a father searches for his daughter who disappeared after a rave party in Morocco. The melodrama "Affeksjonverdi (Sentimental Value).” by Danish-Norwegian director Joachim Trier was honored with the Grand Prix. The Iranian film “Un Simple Accident”, which won the main prize, is about five former political prisoners who encounter their alleged torturer. The 64-year-old Panahi drew inspiration for the highly political and at the same time ironic film from his own two prison stays in Iran. The film, which Panahi shot secretly in his home country, received eight minutes of applause at its premiere in Cannes.

‍

Panahi was presented with the Palme d'Or by jury president Juliette Binoche and actress Cate Blanchett. In his acceptance speech, Panahi called on “all Iranians with all their different opinions, wherever they are in the world”: "Let's put aside all problems, all differences. What is most important now is our country and the freedom of our country." It was “a film made in a place of resistance, a place of survival”, Binoche later explained to journalists. “Art will always win, humanity will always win,” she emphasized. Panahi was able to appear in person in Cannes for the first time in 15 years. The Iranian authorities had long refused to allow him to leave the country.

‍

The political thriller “The Secret Agent” by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, which was one of the favorites for the Palme d'Or, won two awards. The lead actor Moura won the prize for best actor and director Mendonça Filho won the prize for best director. The film is set in the 1970s during the Brazilian dictatorship and blurs dream and reality. There was a minor sensation at the award ceremony for best actress: 23-year-old Melliti, who is actually a sports student, was honored for her acting debut in the film “La Petite Dernière”. The film by French filmmaker Hafsia Herzi tells the story of a lesbian and Muslim teenager in a Parisian suburb.

‍

The German presence in Cannes was unusually strong this year. It is the first time since 2017 that a German-directed film set in Germany has been in the running for the Palme d'Or. Fatih Akin last achieved this with "Out of Nothing". In 2023, Wim Wenders presented the film "Perfect Days", which was shot in Japan.