Political Comments by Cannes Winners

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: "Thailand is a violent country. It’s controlled by a group of mafia.”

Elio Germano (Co-Best Actor, Our Life): "I dedicate this prize to Italians, who are better than their ruling class."

And the awards ceremony kept the plight of Jafar Panahi front and center; there was a placard inscribed "Jafar Panahi" on the podium, which several announcers and winners held up. Juliette Binoche: "There is a man who is in Iran today. His fault is to be an artist, to be independent and I'm thinking of him specially this evening."