Cannes: 'Rams' Wins Un Certain Regard Prize

Isabella Rossellini led the jury for the Cannes sidebar, which also gave awards to 'The High Sun' and 'Journey to the Shore.'

The Un Certain Regard sidebar of the 68th Cannes Film Festival announced its winners on Saturday, with the jury awarding the top prize to Iceland's Rams (Hrutar) by Grímur Hakonarson.

The film centers on two aging and unmarried brothers who haven’t spoken in 40 years who come together in a remote Icelandic valley in order to save their rams.

The High Sun by Croatian director Dalibor Matanic won the jury prize. The film focuses on three different love stories, set in three consecutive decades, in two neighboring Balkan villages.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Journey to the Shore won the best direction award. The Japanese auteur's latest follows a young widow who is reunited with her husband three years after his death.

The Un Certain Talent prize was awarded to Corneliu Porumboiu's The Treasure (Comoara), which centers on a man whose neighbor asks him to help find the treasure buried in his grandparents' garden.

The Un Certain Regard special jury prizes for debut films (Prix de l’avenir) went to Nahid by Ida Panahandeh and Masaan by Neeraj Ghaywan. Nahid is a dark chronicle of one Iranian woman’s efforts to maintain both her freedom and the custody of her child, and stars A Separation actress Sareh Bayat.

Masaan, which earlier in the day was awarded a Fipresci honor, follows a group of people living in Benares, the holy city on the banks of the Ganges, which reserves a cruel punishment for those who play with moral traditions.

Isabella Rossellini served as jury president for the Un Certain Regard sidebar this year, with other jury members including French actor Tahar Rahim, Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al-Mansour, Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki.

The top prizes for the main selection will be awarded on Sunday night during the closing ceremony at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. Jury presidents Joel and Ethan Coen will announce the winners.