Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan has won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for "Winter Sleep" and dedicated the honour to victims of his country's political strife.
Jury president Jane Campion, the New Zealand filmmaker, handed the trophy to Ceylan, yesterday, who pipped 17 other contenders including David Cronenberg, Jean-Luc Godard and the Oscar-winning director of "The Artist", Michel Hazanavicius.
"Winter Sleep" drew rave reviews as a slow-burn domestic drama that mesmerised audiences despite its more than three-hour length.
Ceylan dedicated the award to the Turkish "youth who lost their lives" in violent anti-government protests that have rocked Turkey over the last year.
Julianne Moore won best actress for her role as a shallow starlet in Cronenberg's biting Hollywood satire "Maps to the Stars".
And Britain's Timothy Spall claimed the best actor prize for his role in "Mr. Turner", a lush historical biopic of 19th century painter JMW Turner by director Mike Leigh.
Having beaten a battle with cancer in the mid-1990s, Spall fought back tears as he thanked the jury, and God "to still be alive".
Bennett Miller scooped up the best director award for "Foxcatcher", a Hollywood film based on the real-life murder of an Olympic wrestler by multi-millionaire John du Pont.
Critics embraced the 47-year-old's third feature film after "Capote" and "Moneyball", and viewers were left particularly stunned by Steve Carell, whose performance as the deranged, sinister du Pont marked a complete turnaround from his previous funny man roles.
"It's really something to be supported, and to have people who have faith in you, and to come out the other side," Miller said.
The runner-up Grand Prix went to Italian director Alice Rohrwacher, one of two women in competition, for her lyrical look at the rural life of a family of beekeepers, "The Wonders".
And the third-place Jury Prize was shared by the oldest and youngest filmmakers in the race, 25-year-old Xavier Dolan for his innovative drama "Mommy" and Godard, 83, with the 3D extravaganza "Goodbye to Language".
Best screenplay went to "Leviathan", a harrowing drama assailing abuse of power in today's Russia by Andrei Zvyagintsev.
