Kirsten Dunst bags Best Actress award at Cannes Film Festival

Actress Kirsten Dunst has won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in the movie Melancholia, which is directed by banned filmmaker Lars von Trier. The 29-year-old star was awarded the coveted prize during the closing ceremony of the 64th Cannes International Film Festival.

Kirsten Dunst had lost hope of winning an award at the Cannes Film Festival after Von Trier was made persona non grata by the festival's board after telling a press conference he understood Hitler and that he 'was a Nazi'. Talking to about Trier, Kirsten says, “He's a great film-maker who sometimes I feel should let his films speak for themselves."

However, Von Trier's film Melancholia is about two sisters, who find their relationship challenged as a nearby planet threatens to collide into the Earth. Kirsten Dunst has played Justine, an utterly depressed young woman and she has given a terrific, deeply felt performance in it. She says, “I understood a little of what Justine was going through."

The following is the list of winners from the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival

Palme d'Or - The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, U.S.)
Grand Prix (tie) - Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey) and The Kid With a Bike (Jean-Luc and Pierre Dardenne, France)
Director - Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, U.S.)
Jury Prize - Polisse (Maiwenn, France)
Best Actor - Jean Dujardin (The Artist, France)
Best Actress - Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia, Denmark-Sweden-France-Germany)
Best Screenplay - Joseph Cedar (Footnote, Israel)
Camera d'Or - Las acacias (Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina-Spain)
Palme d'Or, Short Films - Cross (Maryna Vroda)