South Korean director Bong Joon-ho has won the Cannes film festival's most prestigious award.

The Palme d'Or was awarded for his film Parasite, a dark comedy thriller exploring social class dynamics.

The festival came to a close this evening after 11 days of previews of new films and documentaries.

It saw French-Senagalese director Mati Diop become the first black female director to win an award in Cannes' 72-year history.

Diop won the Grand Prix - the equivalent of a silver prize - for Atlantics, a Senegalese drama about young migrants and sexual politics.

Diop had previously said she was "a little sad" that it had taken until 2019 for a film by a woman of African descent to even be screened at the festival.

Meanwhile, US director Quentin Tarantino's latest film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - which received strong reviews - left the closing ceremony empty handed.

Bong is the first Korean to win Cannes' top prize. However, he has been at the festival previously, having made his name at Cannes with Okja in 2017, which - somewhat controversially - originally screened on Netflix.

This is the second year with no contenders produced by the streaming giant amid talks between the Netflix and Cannes.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1230 HRS, MAY 26, 2019
SI