French lesbian love story wins Cannes Palme d'Or
Cannes, France - Blue is the Warmest Colour, a lesbian love story by Franco-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, won the Palme d'Or for best picture at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday.
Announcing the winner, jury president Steven Spielberg said the jury had decided to exceptionally award the prize not only to Kechiche but also to the film's two lead actresses, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux.
Blue is the Warmest Colour was the critics' choice among the 20 films competing for one of cinema's most prestigious prizes.
It contains some of the lengthiest, most graphic lesbian sex scenes ever seen in a mainstream film, while exuding extraordinary empathy towards the two young lovers played by Exarchopoulos and Seydoux.
"I would like to dedicate this award and this film to the wonderful French youth I met while working on this film," Kechiche said, accepting the prize together with the actresses.
He also dedicated the award to the 2011 revolution in his native Tunisia, which led the Arab Spring uprisings.
"They also have this aspiration to live freely, to express themselves freely and love in full freedom," Kechiche, 52, said.//DPA
