"Underground," a film by Bosnian director Emir Kusturica on the breakup of Yugoslavia, won the Golden Palm award at the 48th annual Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.
The jury's Grand Prize, the festival's second-place honor, went to another film on ex-Yugoslavia, the Greek film "To Vlemma Tou Odyssea" (The Look of Ulysses), directed by Theo Angelopoulos and starring Harvey Keitel.Best actor went to Jonathan Pryce for his role as the eccentric gay writer in the British film "Carrington," while British actress Helen Mirren took best actress for "The Madness of King George."
"Underground," is the story of Marko, who hides Blacky in his cellar from the Nazis before the end of World War II. In 1991 they find each other in opposite camps.
"I had the chance to open my emotions to something that's very painful," Kusturica told French TV station Canal Plus. He said he wanted to "look back into what happened a long time ago to have a little better understanding for the mentality of the people.
Among other winners at the 12-day festival, the Special Jury Prize went to "Carrington" by British director Christopher Hampton.
Best director went to France's Mathieu Kassovitz, who wrote and directed "La Haine" (Hatred).
The Golden Camera award, for the best new director, went to "The White Baloon," by Iran's Jafar Pahani.
China's Zhang Yimou took the technical prize for "Shanghai Triad."
Six American films dominated the 24 films in the main competition but failed to win any awards, a year after Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" took the Golden Palm.
The U.S. entries included "Dead Man," directed by Jim Jarmusch, "Ed Wood" by Tim Burton, "Jefferson in Paris" by James Ivory, "Beyond Rangoon" by John Boorman, "Angels and Insects" by Philip Haas, "Kids" by Larry Clark, and "The Neon Bible" by Terence Davies.