Its all over in France for another year, with the 59th Cannes Film Festival closing its official proceedings. Its now famous annual awards ceremony split the top honors amongst a variety of titles that got acclaim from critics on the Croisette.
The big one, the famed Palme d'Or for best film, went to Ken Loach's "The Wind that Shakes the Barley". The Cillian Murphy-led incisive drama looks at strife and struggle that lead to the fight for independence in Ireland in 1920.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("21 Grams") took home a best director prize for "Babel", a multi-country drama featuring the likes of Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal.
Much loved Spanish helmer Pedro Almodovar ("All About My Mother", "The Bad Education") won the screenplay prize for his Penelope Cruz drama "Volver".
The jury prize was given to British first-time director Andrea Arnold for her intense Scottish-set drama "Red Road".
The oddest awards were that the female ensemble of "Volver" won the best actress award collectively, whilst the male ensemble of Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb's "Days of Glory" (Indigenes) won the best actor award collectively.
