Sofia Coppola has become the second ever woman to take out the hotly contested Best Director award at Cannes.
Coppola won the award for her upcoming film ‘The Beguiled‘, following not very closely in the footsteps of Russian director Yuliya Solntseva, the first ever woman to win Best Director, who took out the prize in 1961 – yes, the last winner predates the end of the Vietnam War.
Usually known for her dreamy, introspective movies about self-discovery (see ‘Lost in Translation‘, ‘Somewhere‘, and ‘Marie Antoinette‘ ), ‘The Beguiled‘ will be Coppola’s first foray into horror, as an adaptation of both the novel and 1971 Southern Gothic horror film of the same name.
She was unable to accept the award in person but issued a statement thanking the jury, Universal Studios, Focus Features, her folks (directors Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola) and director Jane Campion (the only woman to ever win the Palm d’Or).
‘The Beguiled‘ stars Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning and will be coming out in Australia on July 13, have a peek at the trailer below:
Fun bonus fact: Nicolas Cage, Jason Schwartzman and Sofia Coppola are all cousins.
Source: Huffington Post.
Photo: Getty Images / Stephane Cardinale.
