.jpg "Bérénice Bejo (C), Tahar Rahim (L) and Ali Mosaffa act in a scene from “The Past”.")
TEHRAN -- French star Berenice Bejo won the best actress award in Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s drama “The Past” (“Le Passe”), organizers announced on Sunday.
After receiving the Palme d’Or for best actress, Bejo called on Farhadi to come to the stage to share her happiness with him.
“I’m really surprised and I want in particular to thank Asghar Farhadi because this prize is linked to him,” the 36-year-old Oscar-nominated actress told reporters during a press conference after the closing ceremony of the festival.
“He’s a director who knows so well how to watch actors, and how to tell stories. I look to him. It’s inconceivable that this prize is just for me because without him and the film team, I’d be nothing,” she added.
Bejo portrays Marie Brisson, a French woman who has ongoing domestic problems with her Iranian husband, Ahmad.
The French-language film is Farhadi’s first project shot outside of his homeland.
Following is the list of winners at the world’s largest film festival:
Best film: “Blue Is the Warmest Color” directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
Grand Prix: “Inside Llewyn Davis” directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Best director: Amat Escalante for “Heli”
Best screenwriter: Jia Zhangke for “A Touch of Sin”
Best actress: Bérénice Bejo in “The Past”
Best actor: Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”
Jury Prize: “Like Father, Like Son” directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu
MMS/YAW
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