From May 13 to 24, the 78th Cannes Film Festival honored some of the most compelling new voices in cinema. The Palme d’Or went to Iranian director Jafar Panahi for UN SIMPLE ACCIDENT, a quietly powerful film shaped by his own experiences with the Iranian regime. Joachim Trier was awarded with the Grand Prix for AFFEKSJONSVERDI (Sentimental Value), while German director Mascha Schilinski received the Jury Prize for her widely praised drama SOUND OF FALLING.

This year’s Palme d’Or winner is Jafar Panahi’s Un Simple Accident – a quietly devastating political thriller that unfolds with the precision of a moral parable. The story begins with a night-time mishap: Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi), a driver traveling with his pregnant wife, hits a stray dog. Seeking help, he ends up at a remote garage, unaware that the man who offers assistance believes him to be the former prison guard who once tortured him. What follows is a tense and haunting confrontation, as past traumas resurface and the lines between victim and perpetrator blur. Shot in secret to avoid the Iranian government’s strict censorship laws, Panahi’s latest film is both deeply personal and unmistakably political. Having endured imprisonment, house arrest, and a decades-long filmmaking ban, the Iranian director continues to film in defiance – turning restriction into resistance. With its stripped-down narrative and restrained visuals, Un Simple Accident speaks volumes about justice, memory, and the fragile pursuit of freedom in a society ruled by silence.

Un Simple Accident will be released in French cinemas on September 10, 2025.

A standing ovation for the screening of a movie is a rare occurrence. Even then, it’s not normal for the applause to last over 19 minutes. And if it happens at Cannes, you just know you’re in for something truly special. “Affeksjonsverdi” or Sentimental Value is a dramedy by Norwegian director Joachim Trier which intimately explores family dynamics and the reconciliatory power of art through the story of a father trying to reconnect with his two estranged daughters, by offering his eldest a role in his upcoming film. When she turns him down, he decides to cast a young Hollywood star instead. This choice triggers a chain of events that deeply challenge the families already difficult ties. This soulful premise, paired with (as usual) stellar performances by Elle Fanning, Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Stella Skarsgård won the screenplay rightfully the Grand Price (Grand Prix) of the 78th Festival de Cannes.

Sound of Falling, a German feature film by director Mascha Schilinski, won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The drama follows four young girls and their lives, all living in the same rural farmhouse in the north German region of Altmark during different decades. What the film captures with particular brilliance is its handling of perspective across the shifting timelines. It drifts fluidly through time while slipping forward and backward without warning. The camera often peers through keyholes and floorboards, as if the house itself were bearing witness.

As the story unfolds, the boundaries between characters blur. Though we rarely see them share the screen, the performances of Hanna Heckt, Lea Drinda, Lena Urzendowsky, and Laeni Geiseler, all delivering a distinct yet interconnected portrait of youth, longing, and quiet rebellion. Sound of Falling weaves impressive imagery with immersive sound design to create something both harsh and graceful, an elegy for time, memory, and the women who carry it. 

Opus is the debut film from Mark Anthony Green, a movie that yet again taps into our toxic obsession with celebrity culture and the rich while exploring what happens when admiration curdles into something far more unsettling.

Thirty years after disappearing, a legendary pop star, delightfully played by John Malkovich, invites a young writer, portrayed by Ayo Edebiri, into his isolated world. What begins as an exclusive story quickly spirals into something darker, as she becomes entangled in his eerie cult of followers and a twisted plan she can’t escape.

Opus marks the feature film debut of writer Mark Anthony Green. Before turning to filmmaking, he worked as a journalist for the U.S. magazine GQ. While the film has faced its share of scrutiny from the press, many deeming it an overly ambitious undertaking for a first-time director like Green, it stands as a bold entry into the cinema.

The opening scenes draw you in as Ariel struggles with her career, criticized by a friend for being “middle as fuck.” Green adds pop culture cameos (Wolf Blitzer, Bill Burr, Lenny Kravitz), but their presence tends to feel a bit lost in a world that quickly becomes fake and disconnected, having an overly quirky visual style and logic-free escalation. Something that could make you both like – and dislike – the movie

And perhaps this highlights the absurdity of the world of the rich. Opus deserves credit for its bold exploration of celebrity obsession and the eerie, unpredictable atmosphere Green is able to create throughout the whole film.

The story of finding hope in even the bleakest circumstances has been told countless times, but Sing Sing approaches it with a rare authenticity and depth, steering clear of clichés to deliver a profoundly moving and genuinely transformative experience.

The movie starts on stage with a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by John “Divine G” Whitfield, played by Colman Domingo, and quickly jumps into the introduction of the characters. They all take part in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program.

Domingos character, a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, is already a renowned personality in the RTA program: He helps to cast and recruit new members for the theater group. The film goes on to follow the group as they rehearse and eventually stage an original production.

Along the way, Sing Sing captures moments of vulnerability, humor, and solidarity, revealing how the creative process offers a path to healing, self-expression, and connection. Rather than centering on guilt or innocence, it highlights the humanity of its characters. By blending professional performances with real lived experience, the film becomes more than a story of redemption. It’s a powerful testament to transformation, second chances, and the enduring power of art in the unknown world behind bars.