This year’s Cannes Film Festival winners were announced overnight; with the toast of town being the French drama Blue is the Warmest Colour / La vie d’Adèle, from French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, which picked up the coveted Palme d’Or.

The three hour, sexually explicit, lesbian love story won over both the jury and critics – unlike some previous winners. “I think it will get a lot of play…I think this film carries a very strong message, a very positive message,” said jury head Steven Spielberg. While UK critic Robbie Collin of The Telegraph described the drama as “…an extraordinary, prolonged popping-candy explosion of pleasure, sadness, anger, lust and hope…” and noted that, despite its subject matter, the film “…is the rapturous opposite of dirty old man cinema.”

Blue is the Warmest Colour stars Adèle Exarchopoulos & Léa Seydoux; with Seydoux being the most recognisable of the two leads (to Kiwis) for her roles in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Sister – the latter screening at this year’s French Film Festival.

The brothers Coen, Joel and Ethan, were awarded the Grand Prix (Runner Up) prize for their drama Inside Llweyn Davis, inspired by the life of musician Dave Van Ronk and his posthoumusly published memoir ‘The Mayor of MacDougal Street’.

Amat Escalante was awarded Best Director for Heli, the tale of a family that gets caught up with a Mexican drug cartel. The brilliant Bruce Dern won best actor for playing an alcoholic father in Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska; while Bérénice Bejo picked up the Best Actress award for her role in The Past. Director of The Past, Asghar Farhadi, won last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for A Separation.

Alongside Spielberg, members of this year’s Cannes jury included: Christoph Waltz, Nicole Kidman, Ang Lee, Daniel Auteuil, Vidya Balan, Naomi Kawase, Cristian Mungiu, and Lynne Ramsay.

Here’s hoping we get to see all the winners on our screens this year – stand by for some big NZIFF announcements.

Here’s the full list of winners:

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PALME D’OR

Palme d’Or (Golden Palm):
Blue is the Warmest Colour / La vie d’Adèle – Abdellatif Kechice

Grand Prix (Runner Up):
Inside Llweyn Davis – Ethan & Joel Coen

Best Director:
Amat Escalante – Heli

Jury Prize:
Like Father, Like Son – Hirokazu Koreeda

Best Screenplay:
Zhangke Jia – A Touch of Sin

Camera d’Or (First-Time Filmmaker):
Ilo Ilo – Anthony Chen

Best Lead Actor:
Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Best Leading Actress:
Bérénice Bejo – The Past

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Un Certain Regard Prize:
The Missing Picture – Aida Begic

Special Jury Prize:
Omar – Hany Abu-Assad

Best Director:
Alain Guiraudie – Stranger by the Lake

A Certain Talent Prize:
Ensemble cast in The Golden Cage – Diego Quemada-Diez

Avenir Prize:
Fruitvale Station – Ryan Coogler