A FILM about sex trafficking by Scottish director Lynn Ramsay was honoured twice at the Cannes Film Festival last night.
Ramsay was awarded best screenplay for You Were Never Really Here, her adaptation of Jonathan Ames’s novella of the same name.
The award was a joint victory for Glasgow-born Ramsay and Yorgos Lanthimos’ screenplay for A Killing of a Sacred Deer, starring Nicole Kidman.
Joaquin Phoenix, who stars in Ramsay’s film as a war veteran trying to save a girl from a sex trafficking ring, took the best actor award.
Meanwhile Swedish film The Square won the Palme D’or while Andrey Zvyagintsev won the jury prize for Loveless.
The Square, Ruben Ostlund’s satirical drama, beat a host of top films to pick up the coveted title.
Inspired by the arts world and starring British actor Dominic West and Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss, it was the final film to be shown at the festival.
A special prize to mark the festival’s 70th anniversary was awarded to Kidman and collected on her behalf by jury member Will Smith.
As the extravaganza neared its end last night, a line-up of some of the film world’s biggest names took to the red carpet at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.
After accepting the award for best actress for her role in Fatih Akin’s In The Fade, Diane Kruger said it had been a challenging part to take on.
Kruger said: “We don’t make films for awards. It cost me a lot personally. Thank you very much.”
Sofia Coppola claimed the best director prize for her civil war drama remake The Beguiled, and the Grand Prix honour was given to Robin Campillo’s 120 Beats Per Minute. Coppola is only the second female filmmaker to win the best director prize at Cannes after Russia’s Yuliya Solntseva in 1961.
Also at the ceremony, hosted by actress Monica Bellucci, Leonor Serraille won the Camera d’Or best debut film award for Jeune Femme, while Qiu Yang’s A Gentle Night won the short film prize.
The star-studded jury that selected winners was headed by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and included fellow filmmakers Paolo Sorrentino and Maren Ade, as well as actors Jessica Chastain, and Fan Bingbing.
Before the ceremony kicked off, stars came together for a group photo. Filling the bleachers were the likes of Adrien Brody, Ken Loach, Guillermo del Toro, Uma Thurman, Kirsten Dunst, Tilda Swinton and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
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