Thai-Catalan co-production Palme d?Or 2010
Javier Bardem awarded prize for Best Actor for his role in ?Biutiful? filmed in Barcelona
The film “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”, a Thai-Catalan co-production directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, has won the 2010 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Spanish actor Javier Bardem won the award for Best Actor for the film “Biutiful”, which was mainly filmed in Barcelona, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet.
Catalonia has been present at this year's Cannes Film Festival awards. The Palme d’Or for “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives” beat the pre-award favourite, "Another Year" by British director Mike Leigh. The film, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is co-produced by the Catalan producer Eddie Saeta. In the movie, the main character, Uncle Boonmee, decides to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his wife appears to care for him and his lost son returns home in a non-human form.
The prize for Best Actor was shared by Javier Bardem and Italian actor Elio Germano. Bardem, who dedicated the prize to his partner Penelope Cruz, is the main character in “Biutiful”, the latest film by Mexican director Alejandro González de Iñárritu. “Biutiful” tells the story of a father who suffers from cancer and is working illegally in the suburbs of Barcelona.