Cannes 2017 International Film Festival

It's 1991 and les frères Coen leave their mark on the Croisette, taking the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink (which will go on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for John Goodman, supporting actor). Cannes in the 1990s is absolutely in love with les indies américains (and Asia), and more Palmes will rain on the Sundance generation throughout the decade.

It's May 6th,1955, and Grace Kelly, wearing a fur stole and carrying a bouquet of roses, stops to smile for the camera. She's in Cannes to promote To Catch a Thief, Alfred Hitchcock's latest opus, co-starring Cary Grant and filmed in part on the French Riviera.

Fashion on the Cannes red carpet turned heads as high drama and feminine florals and flounces flourished. The men were suave and groomed, the women demonstrated that the Golden Globes is the carpet to watch for predictors of fashion – many of the trends started in January, as the HFPA honored the best in entertainment, took root.

This year’s Palme d’Or winner The Square is a satirical look at the contemporary art world. The curator of a modern art museum in Stockholm, Christian (played by Danish actor Claes Bang), is desperately looking to create success for the art gallery and himself.

Could 2017 go down as the year of the women despite men taking all of the top awards at the Cannes Film Festival, bar one? The Palme d’Or went to Ruben Östlund, for the Swedish satire The Square. The runner-up Grand Prix went to festival favorite 120 Beats per Minute, by French director Robin Campillo, and Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev was awarded the Jury Prize for his drama Loveless.

A highlight of the Directors Fortnight, the bolder and more innovative sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival, The Florida Project is Sean Baker’s eagerly-awaited follow up to Tangerine, the ultra-modest feature that put him on the international cinema map. Centering on a precocious girl (Brooklynn Prince), during one eventful summer, his fifth feature boasts Baker’s biggest budget to date, and an ensemble cast that includes a discovery of a six-year-old-girl, some unprofessional actors, and a vet performer like Willem Dafoe.

The 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival came to a close on the same wave length as it started – as a celebration of innovation, diversity and inclusion. With women featuring prominently in this year’s line-up, it was only natural that they left a mark on the final choices, with Sofia Coppola (best director), Lynne Ramsay (best screenplay), Léonor Serraille (Caméra d’Or) and Chloe Zhao (Directors Fortnight) winning behind the camera, Jasmine Trinca taking the Un Certain Regard solitary acting award, and Nicole Kidman winning pretty much the whole festival, with four powerhouse performances that earned her the special 70th Anniversary Award.

Cannes 70 is in the books and this year’s Palmarés included a Special Prize for Nicole Kidman, to go with her 11 Golden Globe nominations, three Globe wins and all her other accolades. It was almost inevitable given that the undisputed queen of the Croisette appeared  in a record four films: John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Sophia Coppola’s The Beguiled, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake 2: China Girl.

The pastels have faded and white – but mostly black – dominate on the carpet. EvaGreen, Uma Thurman and Miriam Odemba were standouts – click to see more photos.

Some awards have already been given - Cinefondation, Directors Fortnight, Un Certain Regard, Critics' Week - and as of end of day today, with the gala premiere of Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here, all films in competition would have been screened. A thick veil of suspense envelops the Croisette as Pedro Almodóvar's jury debates the merits of this jubilee year's selection.