2018 Cannes Film Festival winners

Hirokazu Kore-Eda wins the coveted Palme d'Or

featured in News & Reviews Author Ana Hernández, Cannes Editor Updated 3 May 2022

Thar's a wrap! The 2018 Cannes Film Festival celebrated its closing ceremony yesterday. This has been a year of changes that we won't easily forget: Netflix was vetoed, red carpet selfies were banned, the dates and times of the festival were moved around and one claim resonated over the most prestigious European cinema celebration: the need for a larger female representation in the film industry.

The jury, presided over by Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett, granted the festival's most coveted prize, the Palme d'Or, to Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda for his film "Manbiki Kazoku (Shoplifters)". Spike Lee took home the Grand Prix for his antiracist fable "Blackkklansman" while Lebanese Nadine Labaki's "Capharnaum" got the Jury Prize.

Italian Marcello Fonte and Kazakh Samal Yeslamova won this year's interpretation awards, Pawel Pawlikowsli was chosen as the best director for "Zimna Wojna (Cold War)" and Alice Rohrwacher ("Lazzaro Felice") and Jafar Panahi ("Se Rokh") got the best screenplay prize ex-aequo. The 'Un Certain Regard' section, whose jury was headed by actor Benicio del Toro, decided that "Grans (Border)" by Ali Abbasi was this year's best film.

The town of Cannes was once more full of celebrities this year, mainly from the international film industry, including Penelope Cruz, Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart, Gary Oldman, Vanessa Paradis, Benicio del Toro, Emilia Clarke, Adam Driver, John Travolta, Matt Dillon, Christopher Nolan, Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodóvar and Javier Bardem. As it's been a tradition lately, the city also welcomed models such as Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Petra Nemcova, Irina Shayk, Sara Sampaio or Stella Maxwell, as well as influencers like Chiara Ferragni.

Parties took place all around town, as well as at the luxury hotels and yachts nearby. The biggest one was hosted by Chopard. With a secret location, an impressive VIP guest list and a very specific dress code (mask and diamonds), the "Secret Party" gathered the creme de la creme of the current A-listers at the La Croix des Gardes Villa, where Hitchcock filmed "To Catch a Thief" with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in 1955. Enrique Iglesias was in charge of the live music that night and, on the dancefloor, Marion Cotillard, Lupita Nyong'o, The Weeknd and Julianne Moore.