Thai Film Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes

"Uncle Boonmee," directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, traces the dreamlike final days of a man dying of kidney failure as the ghost of his dead wife returns to tend him and his long-lost son comes home in the form of a furry jungle spirit.

"I would like to thank my mother and my father, who 30 years ago, they took me to a little cinema in our little town, and I was so young and didn't know what it was on the screen," Mr. Weerasethakul said. "I didn't know the concept of cinema. With this award, I think I know a little more what cinema is, but it still remains a mystery. I think this mystery keeps us coming back here and to share our world."

Ms. Binoche, an Oscar winner for "The English Patient," won best actress for the cryptic love story "Certified Copy," directed by past Palme d'Or winner Abbas Kiarostami.

During her speech, Ms. Binoche pleaded for the release of Mr. Kiarostami's countryman, detained Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi — who had been asked to be on this year's jury.

"I hope he will be here himself next year," Ms. Binoche said, as she clutched a nameplate emblazoned with the director's name. "It's hard to be an artist and an intellectual, and the country needs you."

Mr. Bardem, an Oscar winner for "No Country for Old Men," shared the Cannes best-actor prize, earning his honor for Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Biutiful," a grim portrait of a dying father. Also playing a father in crisis, Elio Germano shared the best-actor award for Italian filmmaker Daniele Luchetti's "Our Life," a drama about a widower with three sons.

Read more in The Wall Street Journal...