The festival winners were announced today:

• Palme d'Or to "Fahrenheit 9/11" by Michael Moore - The Palme d'Or of this 57th edition of the Festival de Cannes was presented by Charlize Theron to Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore. "I can't begin to express my appreciation and my gratitude to the jury, the Festival, to Gilles Jacob, Thierry Frémaux, Bob and Harvey at Miramax, to all of the crew who worked on the film. [...] I have a sneaking suspicion that what you have done here and the response from everyone at the festival, you will assure that the American people will see this film. I can't thank you enough for that. You've put a huge light on this and many people want the truth and many want to put it in the closet, just walk away. There was a great Republican president who once said, if you just give the people the truth, the republicans, the Americans will be saved. [...] I dedicate this Palme d'Or to my daughter, to the children of Americans and to Iraq and to all those in the world who suffer from our actions. "
• Grand Prix to "Old Boy" by Park Chan-Wook - The Grand Prix was presented by Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd to Old Boy by Park Chan-Wook.
• Best Actress Award to Maggie Cheung for her role in "Clean" - The Best Actress Award goes to Maggie Cheung for her role in Clean by Olivier Assayas. “It's really an incredible time in my life,” Maggie Cheung said. “I would like to thank the Cannes Festival for having invited us this evening. I want to thank the jury for having given us this prize. Clean wasn't easy to get made and I also want to thank the three producers [...] And thank you to Olivier.”
• Best Actor Award to Yuuya Yagira for his role in "Nobody Knows" - The Best Actor Award goes to the 14-year old Yuuya Yagira for his role in Nobody Knows by Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Yagira Yuuya back in Japan, it was director Hirokazu Kore-eda who collected the award on his behalf. At the post-awards press conference, the director gave his impressions. “This prize is deserved, because we worked for a year with the children, and I think that you can see their progress in the film during that year [...] I chose Yagira at an audition. What made me choose him was his eyes. [...] Yagira is at middle school and he had to return to Japan to take his exams. I just telephoned him to tell him the good news, and he was very happy. He thinks he failed his exam, but he hopes that with this prize, his teacher might be more understanding.”
• Best Director Award goes to Tony Gatlif for "Exils" - The Best Director Award goes to Tony Gatlif for Exils
• Best Screenplay Award goes to "Comme une Image" by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri - The Best Screenplay Award goes to Comme une Image by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri.
• The Jury Prize to Irma P. Hall and "Tropical Malady" - The Jury Prize goes to actress Irma P. Hall for her role in The Ladykillers by the Coen brothers and to Tropical Malady from the Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
• The Camera d'Or goes to "Or" by Keren Yedaya - Jury President Tim Roth bestowed the Camera d'Or to the first feature film, Or , by Israeli director Keren Yedaya.
• Camera d'Or Special Mention to "Lu Cheung (Passages)" by Yang Chao and "Bitter Dream" by Mohsen Amiryoussefi - Camera d'Or Special Mention went to two films: Lu Cheung (Passages) by Chinese director Chao Yang and Bitter Dream" by Iranian director Mohsen Amiryoussefi.
• Palme d'Or to Short Film "Trafic" by Catalin Mitulescu - French actress Jeanne Balibar gave the Palme d'Or to a Short Film went to Trafic by Romanian director Catalin Mitulescu.
• Jury Prize to Short Film "Flatlife" by Jonas Geirnaert - Jury Prize to a Short Film goes to Flatlife by Belgian director Jonas Geirnaert.

See all of my daily reports, a complete list of films, the list of judges and a photo gallery at my main Cannes Film Festival 2004 Coverage page.

Some prizes were already handed out before today's awards. For its 30th anniversary, the Ecumenical Jury has awarded its prize to Diarios de Motocicleta (Motorcycle Diaries), Walters Salles' film that was screened in competition. Since 1974 the Ecumenical Jury has awarded prizes to works of high artistic quality that bear witness to cinema's ability to reveal humanity in all its depth, mystery, anxiety, darkness, and hopes.

Yesterday, the international critics (Fédération internationale des critiques de films - FIPRESCI) awarded their Official Competition prize to Michael Moore's controversial Fahrenheit 9/11. The FIPRESCI award to a film in the Un Certain Regard section went to Whisky from Uruguayan filmmakers Juan-Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll. The festival cites the following quotes from the directors about this film:

“The initial idea was very simple, nearly absurd,” says co-director Pablo Stoll. “There wasn't anything special about it. It's a sort of fable; a story in which the characters would be linked one to the other through a series of hoaxes. Our aim was to explore the little habits, conventions and set phrases, and explore what they said and what they hide.”

“The story of Whisky is completely plausible, it could happen in the real world,” explains co-director Juan Pablo Rebella. “Despite everything it is reminiscent of children's stories in which each page has an image and one or two sentences below. Slowly but surely through pages and scenes that's how you progressively enter into the little world of the narration.”