In a surprise verdict, the Japanese film Shoplifters, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, has been awarded the Palme d’Or for main feature at the close of the Cannes film festival.
A special Palme d’Or award was made to the 87-year-old French Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard for his film Image Book.
Blanchett said that choosing the winner for the 71st international film festival “was bloody difficult”.
“And the Palme d’Or has to go to a film that brings lots of different things together.