Cannes film festival prepares to award the Palme d'Or

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00:00The Cannes Film Festival closing later this evening.

00:02It's been nearly two weeks of exciting premier star-studded press conferences

00:07and beachside parties that go into the early hours.

00:10Now there's one final task, crowning this year's Palme d'Or winner.

00:14The nine-strong jury, headed by French actress Juliette Binoche,

00:17will pick one of 22 films vying for that top prize.

00:22For more, we can speak to our film critic, Emma Jones, standing by in Cannes.

00:25Hello to you, Emma.

00:26Can you tell us who the main contenders are?

00:29Good morning.

00:30Yes, indeed.

00:33Well, if standing ovations, which Cannes is also extremely famous for after a world premiere,

00:39are a barometer of what will win,

00:42then I would say that it's going to go to Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier

00:46with his sixth feature film, Sentimental Value.

00:49Now this film, starring Stellan Skarsgård, the Swedish actor,

00:53and Renata Rensve, who won Best Actress here at Cannes a few years ago,

00:58received a 15-minute standing ovation.

01:03And just to give you some context, Parasite by Bong Joon-ho, regarded as a masterpiece,

01:07only received an eight-minute standing ovation.

01:10So if that is a barometer, it's a hugely popular film.

01:14It has received rave reviews that might be the favourite for the Palme d'Or.

01:19But you know there is another contender, I'd say, in terms of Jafar Panahi,

01:24the Iranian filmmaker who was recently released from prison and then went ahead and made another film.

01:30In French it's called Ensemble Accidents, or It Was Just An Accident.

01:34And this is very simple filmmaking at its best, and it's based on Panahi's experiences in prison.

01:42So I'd say these two are probably the favourite by critics for the Palme d'Or.

01:47In what may have been quite a disappointing year, of course, the jury, as you say,

01:52led by Juliette Binoche, will make their own decision.

01:54There's a Brazilian film called The Secret Agent, which has also gone down very well in some quarters.

02:00A Spanish film called Sirat, which has really been a hit, a word-of-mouth hit of the festival.

02:08There's so many surprises in this film.

02:10It's sort of a desert rave set in Morocco.

02:13This is a screening that's sold out on the booking system within minutes because of word-of-mouth.

02:20And then there's another film called The Sound of Falling by German filmmaker Masha Shelinski.

02:25And that is a two-hour-forty epic about one German family over the course of a century.

02:34That is something of a masterpiece. That could also have an outside chance.

02:38All right, Emma, thank you so much. Emma Jones reporting from Cannes.

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