'Beasts Of The Southern Wild' & 'In The Fog' Win FIPRESCI Prizes At Cannes

More prizes are being handed out this evening in Cannes as the festival winds down for another year. With Tim Roth and his jury handing out the plaudits for Un Certain Regard, FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics, have handed out their honors for the fest.

In the Un Certain Regard category, Benh Zeitlin's "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" took home the prize as the best film continuing a roll the picture has been on since Sundance, where it nabbed a Grand Jury Prize. The film is a dizzying, magical realist tale that is hard to describe in a few sentences. But it's a giant fantasy that's tremendously moving, powered by an outstanding turn by the pint sized Quvenzhané Wallis who lives in The Bathtub with her father and sees the world fall apart and come together all around her. That's all we'll say, but when it opens next month, go see it with an open mind and heart.

Meanwhile, in the main competition, FIPRESCI honored Russian helmer Sergei Loznitsa's "In The Fog." We heard some good word about this film, a WWII tale set in German-occupied Russia, where an innocent man is accused of collaborating with the enemy and two men are ordered to kill him. Desperate to clear his name, the man is faced with a moral choice during an immoral time. We've heard rumblings that it's a Palme d'Or contender, so we'll see what happens tomorrow...

Speaking of the top prize at Cannes, Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt" is also said to be a major player. Here, it has earned the Ecumenical Jury prize from FIPRESCI (while 'Beasts' took a "special mention"). Finally, from the sidebars, the "Romeo & Juliet"-inspired "Regaine" took the win, rounding things out. [The Wrap]