Turkey's 'Winter Sleep' wins top Cannes prize

The Turkish film "Winter Sleep," directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, won the top Palme d'Or award for best film yesterday at the 67th Cannes International Film Festival, Reuters reported.

Ceylan, whose three-hour-plus film explores the huge gap between the powerful and powerless in his country, noted that the award, announced by the prize jury, came on the 100th anniversary of Turkish film.

He dedicated the award to "those who lost their lives during the last year," adding that he was referring to the youth of his country.

"Le Meraviglie" (The Wonders) by Italian director Alice Rohrwacher took the second-place prize for a coming-of-age story set in the Tuscan countryside as a family tries to eke out a bohemian life making honey.

Twenty-five-year-old Canadian director Xavier Dolan's film "Mommy" shared the third-place prize with octogenarian French director Jean-Luc Godard's "Adieu au Langage" (Goodbye to Language).

American director Bennett Miller won the best director award for "Foxcatcher," British actor Timothy Spall won best actor for Mike Leigh's film "Mr. Turner," and Julianne Moore was named best actress in David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars."

"Leviathan" by Russia's Andrei Zvyagintsev took the prize for best screenplay.

This year's festival had its share of glamour, with Nicole Kidman playing Grace Kelly in "Grace of Monaco," the widely panned film that opened the festival but was not in competition.

Those making a requisite turn down the red carpet included Sharon Stone, Aishwarya Rai, Uma Thurman and John Travolta, Eva Longoria, Naomi Watts and Jessica Chastain.