Introduction to the 2025 UN Competition
The 2025 UN competition at the Cannes Film Festival has come to a close, with several films taking home top prizes. Among the winners was Chilean writer and director Diego Céspedes’ AIDS-Bigotterie drama, which claimed the main prize.
The Winning Drama
The winning drama, set in the 1980s, tells the story of a small mining city in Chile where an unknown illness is spreading, and gay men are accused of transmitting it with their eyes. The film follows Lydia, an 11-year-old girl, as she seeks to uncover the truth. The winners were announced on Friday in an award ceremony at the Debussy Theater.
Other Award Winners
Other award winners included A Poet by Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto, which took the UN Certain Regard prize for its drama about a failed poet who becomes infatuated with a talented young woman. The best director award went to Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser for It Was Once in Gaza, a Palestinian crime thriller set in Gaza in 2007 when Hamas took power and Israel began its ongoing blockade.
Acting and Script Awards
Cleo Diasra shared the best actor award for I Only Rest in the Storm with Frank Dillane for Urban. The best script prize went to Harry Lighton for Pediac, which he also directed.
The Competition
A total of 20 films were selected for this year’s competition, including nine first films. These included Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson’s first turn behind the camera, starring June Squibb; Harrison Dickinson’s Urban, a British drama about a homeless person in London; and My Father’s Shadow, a debut by British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies, starring actor Sope Dirisu.
Previous Winners
The 2024 prize winner was Guan Hu for Black Dog. This year, the British director Molly Manning Walker headed the UN Certain Regard jury as president, accompanied by directors Louise Courvoisier and Roberto Minervini, Rotterdam Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, and actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart.
Conclusion
The 2025 UN competition at the Cannes Film Festival showcased a diverse range of films, with several debut directors and actors taking home top prizes. The winning films tackled a range of topics, from AIDS and bigotry to poverty and crime, and demonstrated the talent and creativity of emerging filmmakers from around the world.
