REPRESENTATION

South Korean Film ‘Parasite’ Wins Top Prize at Cannes Film Festival

The film is the first from South Korea to win the prestigious award.

The Cannes Film Festival has awarded it's top prize, the Palme d’Or, to the South Korean satire Parasite. The film—reportedly a unanimous favorite on the judges' panel—is the first film from South Korea to win the prestigious award. While accepting the award, director Bong Joon-ho, who also directed Okja, said, “I never imagined this.” Other firsts at this year's competition held in the South of France included a second place win for Atlantics, directed by French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop. Diop is the first black female filmmaker to have a movie in the main competition. Best actor went to Antonio Banderas, the star of director Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory, which won praise at the festival. “This is my night of glory,” Banderas said in accepting his award. Notably, the most hotly-anticipated film in the festival, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, received no major prizes.