Jurors at the 2006
Cannes Film Festival awarded PedroAlmodovar'sVolver best screenwriting and best actress
awards but gave the festival's top prize, the
Palme d'Or, to Ken Loach's The Wind
That Shakes the Barley.Set in La Mancha,
Volver depicts the rich culture of the
Spanish region through the story a mother's
death and her return to her family as a ghost.
"My movie is about family among other
things, a family of women," Almodovar said
as he accepted his screenwriting award.
Just as his All About
My Mother was considered by many to be the
frontrunner for the Palme d'Or in 1999,
Volver was this year's favored film.
Almodovar said after the ceremony, "To be the
favorite until the end, I would like to tell you
it is a curse--a maldicion." But he added,
"It doesn't mean I am complaining. The script is the
base of the movie."
The best actress
award was presented to the film's ensemble female
cast including Penelope Cruz, Yohana Cobo,
Lola Duenas, Carmen Maura, and Blanca Portillo.
Honoring her director, Penelope Cruz said, "I think this
award really belongs to Pedro, to the master."Other notable awards
presented at Cannes include the Grand Prix, which went
to Bruno Dumont's Flanders, and the
best director award, which went to Alejandro
Gonzales Inarritu for Babel. The
ensemble male cast of Indigenes by Rachid
Bouchareb won the award for best actor.(The Advocate)