The red carpet has been rolled away, the last standing ovation has echoed through the Palais, and the jury has spoken: the 2025 Cannes Film Festival has officially wrapped, with Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi (The Circle, Offside) earning the Palme d’Or for It Was Just an Accident. But Panahi’s bold political thriller was just one of many standouts celebrated during a ceremony that saw plenty of love for boundary-pushing films and global storytellers.
As has become something of a tradition, indie distributor Neon walked away with a haul of major wins — including Best Director, Best Actor, the Grand Prix, and, for the sixth consecutive year, the Palme.
This year’s jury, led by French screen icon Juliette Binoche, delivered a diverse and often surprising slate of honourees, ranging from experimental genre work to quietly emotional dramas.
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Panahi Returns, and Triumphs
Panahi’s Palme-winning film — a darkly satirical, deeply personal tale of five former prisoners unsure whether the man in their custody is the regime torturer they believe he is — capped a landmark return to Cannes after a 15-year travel ban was lifted in 2023. Accepting the award on stage, Panahi said (as quoted by SBS):
“Let’s just set aside all our differences and problems. What’s most important now is our country, and its freedom. Let us join forces, so no one can dare tell us what kind of clothes we can wear, what we must do, what we must not do. … Cinema is a society. Nobody is entitled to tell us what we should do or refrain from doing.”
His victory marks the first Palme d’Or for an Iranian film since Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry shared the prize in 1997.
Other Major Wins: From Family Dramas to Desert Raves
Joachim Trier earned the Grand Prix for Sentimental Value, his emotionally layered story of a director casting his estranged daughter in his most personal film yet. The Jury Prize was split between Sirat, Oliver Laxe’s sunburnt, post-apocalyptic road trip across the Moroccan desert, and Sound of Falling, Mascha Schilinski’s kaleidoscopic house-set drama that eavesdrops on the lives of unrelated strangers.
Brazilian star Wagner Moura (Narcos) took home Best Actor for The Secret Agent, with director Kleber Mendonça Filho also winning Best Director. The film, set during Brazil’s military dictatorship, follows a man forced to go underground in a desperate attempt to survive.
Best Actress was awarded to newcomer Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister, Hafsia Herzi’s sharp coming-of-age tale about a Parisian teen wrestling with identity and community expectations. The film also claimed the Queer Palm.
Dardennes, Documentaries, and a Dog Named Panda
Longtime Cannes favourites Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne picked up yet another Best Screenplay award, this time for Young Mothers. And in true festival tradition, the Palme Dog — yes, it’s a real thing — went to Panda, the furry standout of The Love That Remains.
Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi made history by winning the Caméra d’Or for The President’s Cake, the first time a film from Iraq has received the award. Meanwhile, Chinese director Bi Gan took home the Special Award for Resurrection, a wildly ambitious cinematic anthology that jumps through genres and decades of film history.
Even a region-wide power outage on closing day couldn’t dampen the spirit of celebration. Actor John C. Reilly, in town for Heads or Tails?, summed up the mood as he sang La Vie en Rose in English: “Luckily, the films presented have provided all the electricity we needed this week.”
Here’s the full list of 2025 Cannes Film Festival winners, accompanied by the trailers or clips that have been been available:
Main Competition
- Palme d’Or: It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi
- Grand Prix: Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier
- Jury Prize (tie): Sirat – Olivier Laxe & Sound of Falling – Mascha Schilinski
- Best Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho – The Secret Agent
- Best Actor: Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
- Best Actress: Nadia Melliti – The Little Sister
- Best Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne – Young Mothers
- Special Award: Resurrection – Bi Gan
Un Certain Regard
- Prize: The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo – Diego Céspedes
- Jury Prize: A Poet – Simón Mesa Soto
- Best Director: Tarzan & Arab Nasser – Once Upon a Time in Gaza
- Best Actor: Frank Dillane – Urchin
- Best Actress: Cléo Diara – I Only Rest in the Storm
- Best Screenplay: Harry Lighton – Pillion
Camera d’Or
- Winner: The President’s Cake – Hasan Hadi
- Special Mention: My Father’s Shadow – Akinola Davies Jr.
Short Films
- Palme d’Or: I’m Glad You’re Dead Now – Tawfeek Barhom
- Special Mention: Ali – Adnan Al Rajeev
Other Awards
- Golden Eye (Documentary): Imago – Déni Oumar Pitsaev
- Special Jury Prize (Doc): The Six Billion Dollar Man – Eugene Jarecki
- Queer Palm: The Little Sister – Hafsia Herzi
- Palme Dog: Panda – The Love That Remains
FIPRESCI Prizes
- Competition: The Secret Agent – Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Un Certain Regard: Urchin – Harris Dickinson
- Parallel Sections: Dandelion’s Odyssey – Momoko Seto
