Lebanese short film ‘Waves '98’ by Ely Dagher wins the Palme d'Or at the 68th Festival de Cannes.
'Waves '98'
The Palme d'Or for Short Film was awarded on Sunday to the animated short Waves ‘98 at the 68th Festival de Cannes.
Directed by Ely Dagher, the 15-minute short animation explores the filmmaker’s current relationship with his homeland, as told through the story of a teenager who has become disillusioned with his life in the segregated suburbs of Beirut. Omar, voiced by Elie Bassila, is lured into the depths of the city after an unusual discovery. Immersed into a world that is so close yet so isolated from his reality, he finds himself struggling to keep his attachments and his sense of home.
The director, who divides his time between Beirut and Brussels, beat out more than 4,500 other filmmakers for the award. He is the first Lebanese director to receive the award in the Official Competition since 1991, when Maroun Baghdadi took home the Jury Prize for Hors La Vie.
Working across film, painting and installation, Dagher’s work has been featured in many publications and exhibitions. He graduated from London’s Goldmiths College with an MA in New Media and Contemporary Art Studies in 2009, following the completion of a Bachelors degree in 2D/3D Animation, Art Direction & Illustration the Academie libanaise des Beaux-Arts in Lebanon in 2007.
The full list of winners is shown below:
COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, France)
Grand Prix: Son of Saul (Laszlo Nemes, Hungary)
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien, The Assassin (Taiwan)
Actor: Vincent Lindon, The Measure of a Man (France)
Actress (tie): Emmanuelle Bercot, Mon roi (France), and Rooney Mara, Carol (U.K.)
Jury Prize: Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster (Greece-Ireland-U.K.-Netherlands-France)
Screenplay: Michel Franco, Chronic (Mexico-France)
OTHER PRIZES
Palme d’Honneur: Agnes Varda
Camera d’Or: Land and Shade (Cesar Augusto Acevedo, Colombia)
Short Films Palme d’Or: Waves ’98 (Ely Dagher)
Ecumenical Jury Prize: My Mother (Nanni Moretti)
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Prize: Rams (Grimur Hakonarson, Iceland-Denmark)
Jury prize: The High Sun (Dalibor Matanic, Croatia-Slovenia-Serbia)
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Journey to the Shore (Japan-France)
Un Certain Talent Prize: Corneliu Porumboiu, The Treasure (Romania)
Special Prize for Promising Futures (tie): Nahid (Ida Panahandeh, Iran) and Masaan (Neeraj Ghaywan, France-India)
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: The Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra, Colombia)
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: My Golden Days (Arnaud Desplechin, France)
Europa Cinemas Label: Mustang (Deniz Gamze Erguven, France-Turkey-Germany)
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: Paulina (Santiago Mitre, Argentina-Brazil-France)
Visionary Prize: Land and Shade
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: Land and Shade
FIPRESCI
Competition: Son of Saul (Laszlo Nemes, Hungary)
Un Certain Regard: Masaan
Critics’ Week: Paulina
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
