The 2025 Cannes Film Festival has officially wrapped up, with its array of awards handed out to a diverse group of films and talents. This renowned French festival annually celebrates the art of cinema by distributing awards for best director, actor, actress, and screenplay, along with the Jury Prize, the Grand Prize, and the much-sought-after Palme d’Or. Recent recipients of the Palme d’Or include Sean Baker’s Anora, which also snagged an Academy Award for Best Picture, Bong Joon Ho’s Academy Award-winning Parasite, and the Oscar-nominated films Triangle of Sadness and Anatomy of a Fall.
The ScreenRant team attended the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, which took place from May 13 to May 24. The festival showcased a plethora of films contending for top honors, including Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, Ari Aster’s Eddington, Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love, and Julia Ducournau’s Alpha. The winners were announced during the closing ceremony by this year’s jury, headed by Juliette Binoche and featuring members like Hong Sang-soo, Halle Berry, Payal Kapadia, Jeremy Strong, among others. Here are the winners:
Best Actor: Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
See our review of The Secret Agent
Best Actress: Nadia Melliti (The Little Sister)
Best Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent)
Best Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Young Mothers)
Jury Prize: Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski) and Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
Explore our review of Sound of Falling
Explore our review of Sirat
Grand Prize: Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
Explore our review of Sentimental Value
Palme d’Or: It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi)
Explore our review of It Was Just an Accident
Significance of Cannes 2025 Outcomes
Predominance of French Cinema
The 2025 Cannes awards highlighted a diverse international range of films. After the United States snagged three awards in 2024 with Anora and the co-productions Kinds of Kindness and The Substance, this year saw no American winners despite strong contenders like the latest from Ari Aster. This year, France stood out as the most represented nation, having a hand in producing all awarded films except for the entirely German-produced Sound of Falling.
In 2024, Jesse Plemons took home Best Actor for Kinds of Kindness and Coralie Fargeat was recognized for Best Screenplay with The Substance.
This outcome aligns with the festival’s history of favoring European arthouse cinema, which tends to spotlight films from various countries and cultural narratives. This approach helps Cannes set trends within the international film community, particularly regarding films that might resonate on a global scale.
Insights on 2025 Cannes Award Winners
Highlight: The Dual Wins of The Secret Agent
Despite not securing one of the three top prizes, The Secret Agent distinguished itself by winning two significant awards at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. This film, a collaborative effort from Brazil, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, features Wagner Moura as a teacher entangled in the complexities of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1977. Winning both major acting awards may position it favorably for the upcoming 2025-2026 awards season.
Ava Thornton is an entertainment journalist with a keen eye for the latest in Hollywood, indie films, and streaming trends.
Her work blends insider knowledge with a deep appreciation for storytelling.
