Un Certain Regard

Romanian film The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu took top honours in the Un Certain Regard sidebar onFriday night in Cannes. The road movie set in an ambulance was directed byCristi Puiu whose short film Cigarettes And Coffee won a prize at Berlin in 2004.

American director Alexander Payne oversaw the jury for thesection.

A special 'prize of hope' was also awarded to S.Pierre Yameogo for his film Delwendefrom Burkina Faso while French filmmaker Alain Cavalier was given 'aprize for intimacy' for his autobiographical Filmeur.

Directors' Fortnight

French film La Moustachewas awarded the Directors' Fortnight prize. The film is directed byEmmanuel Carrere and stars Vincent Lindon, Emmanuel Devos and Mathieu Amalric.

Handled by France's Pathe, the film drummed up a lotof interest among international buyers though a US deal had not been concludedby market's end. Lindon plays a man who shaves his ten-year oldmoustache and is shocked to find that those around him swear he never had one.

The art house prize, given by the InternationalConfederation of Art House Cinemas (CICAE), went to the UK's SistersIn Law from filmmakers Kim Longinotto andFlorence Ayisi. In giving the prize, CICAE ensures the film will be shownin other festivals and the cinema circuits of its members.

Critics' Week

The International Critics' Week prize was awarded toMiranda July's Me, You And Everyone We Know. Writtenby and starring American director July, the film is a joint production of the UK's Film Four and New York's IFC Films. It recently took top honoursat the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Handled by French sales company Celluloid Dreams, the filmis a treatise on communication in today's America.

FIPRESCI

Michael Haneke's Cache won the FIPRESCI award as well as the prize of the ecumenical jury.

The FIPRESCI award is given by the International Federationof Film Critics and is handed out during several film festivals throughout theyear. For its part, the ecumenical jury has been awarding prizes at Cannessince 1974 and also gave special mention to S. Pierre Yameogo's Delwende from Burkina Faso.

The psychological thriller Cache stars Daniel Auteil and Juliette Binoche and was afavourite with critics during the run of the festival. It sold to Sony PicturesClassics late in the market.

The International Federation of Film Press gave a mention toSangre from Mexican director AmatEscalante and Crying Fist by RyooSeung-wan from South Korea. The former film ran in Un Certain Rregard and thelatter in Directors' Fortnight.

Cinefondation

The Cinefondation gave its prize to Buy It Now by NYU student Antonio Campos. The Cinefondation wascreated to help foster new talent with this year's jury presided over byTaiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.

Also on the jury were Chantal Akerman, Sylvie Testud, ColinMacCabe and Yousry Nasrallah. Second prize was a tie going to Vdvoyom by Nikolay Khomeriki, a student at France'sFemis film school and Bikur Holimby Maya Dreifuss, a student at the University of Tel Aviv. Third prize went to LaPlaine by Roland Edzard of Le Fresnoyschool and Columbia University student Sameh Zoabi for Be Quiet.