20/05/2026 - CANNES 2026: The debut feature by France’s Marine Atlan has won the Grand Prize, and Spaniard Aina Clotet was also honoured for her performance in Alive

The jury of the 65th Critics’ Week at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, chaired by Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, has awarded the Grand Prize to La Gradiva by France’s Marine Atlan. This debut feature, written by the director together with Anne Brouillet, is a rich work of high artistic calibre that follows a group of young French people on a school trip to Italy. La Gradiva was produced by French company Les Films du Poisson and was co-produced by Italian outfit BiBi Film, while mk2 Films is handling its international sales.

Honouring an actor or actress, the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award went to Spaniard Aina Clotet for her performance in Alive, which she also directed. This debut feature was produced by Spanish companies Ikiru Films and Funicular Films, with Loco Films handling international sales.

Finally, among the partner-awarded prizes in the Critics’ Week, the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution was won by Pyramide, the French distributor of A Girl Unknown by China’s Zou Jing, while the SACD Award went to duo Blerta Basholli and Nicole Borgeat, writers of Dua (directed by the former).

Here is the full list of winners:

Ami Paris Grand Prize
La Gradiva - Marine Atlan (France/Italy)

Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award
Aina Clotet - Alive (Spain)

Sony Discovery Award for Short Film
Skinny Boots – Romain F Dubois (Canada)

Gan Foundation Award for Distribution
Pyramide, the French distributor of A Girl Unknown by Zou Jing (China/France)

SACD Award
Blerta Basholli and Nicole Borgeat, writers of Dua (Kosovo/France/Belgium)

Canal+ Award for Short Film
"Vaterland" or A Bule Named Yanto - Berthold Wahjudi (Germany/Indonesia)

(Translated from French)