74th Cannes Film Festival: Award-winning films that deserve our attention

The 74th Cannes Film Festival has been very special to all of us with "Rehana Maryam Noor," directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad being the first ever film from Bangladesh to make it to the official selections and the crew's dazzling presence in the festival. While the hype with "Rehana Maryam Noor" is stronger than ever, there are some brilliant award-winning films at the festival that deserve the attention of cinephiles as well. Today, we bring you six such films that dazzled the audience and the critics with their cinematic brilliance at Cannes.

Titane

"Titane," a wildly imaginative film that has been described as a "body horror" thriller, revolves around a serial killer with a titanium plate in her brain and bizarre fantasies. While the film wowed audiences with its vitality, it was also hailed as one of the most disturbing and violent pictures in the competition this year by critics. This French and Belgian co-production won the Palme d'Or for feature films at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, making Ducournau the second woman in 74 years to win the Palme d'Or.

French director Julia Ducournau poses on stage with her trophy after she won the Palme d'Or for her film Titane at the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 17, 2021. Photo: AFP

Ghahreman

"Ghahreman" (A Hero) tells the story of Rahim, imprisoned because of being unable to repay a debt. During his two-day parole, he tries to persuade his creditor to drop his objection to the payment of a portion of the debt, but things don't go according to his plans. The film, an Iranian production directed by Asghar Farhadi, has been awarded Grand Prix at the festival.

Hytti N°6

Directed by Juho Kuosmanen, "Hytti N°6" (Compartment n°6) is a film adaptation of Rosa Liksom's novel of the same name. A young Finnish woman takes a train to the northern port of Murmansk to get away from an ambiguous love affair in Moscow. The unexpected encounter forces the inhabitants of Compartment no. 6 to face the reality of their own longing for human connection after being forced to share the lengthy voyage and a cramped sleeping car with a Russian miner. The film jointly won the Grand Prix with Ghahreman.

Razzhimaya Kulaki

Kira Kovalenko's Russian drama "Razzhimaya Kulaki" (Unclenching The Fists), produced by Ukrainian-Russian super-producer Alexander Rodnyansky with Sergey Melkumov is set in a former mining town in North Ossetia, follows a young lady as she tries to break free from the suffocating grip of the family she both loves and dislikes. The film won the Grand Prize in Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard sidebar this year.

Grosse Freiheit

Directed by Sebastian Meise, the Austrian film "Grosse Freiheit" (Great Freedom) is set in post-war Germany and tells the story of a man who is imprisoned time and time again for being homosexual. It has been awarded by the Jury led by British filmmaker Andrea Arnold under the Un Certain Regard.

Feathers

Directed by Omar El Zohairi, "Feathers" is set in contemporary Egypt and recounts the story of a mother of three whose idealistic husband is transformed into a chicken by a magician in a magic trick gone wrong. The film was produced by Still Moving (France), and co-produced by Film Clinic (Egypt), Lagoonie Film Production (Egypt), Kepler Film (The Netherlands) and Heretic (Greece). "Feathers" won the Nespresso Grand Prize in the Critics' Week of the festival.

The author is a sub-editor at Toggle, The Daily Star.