Cannes: Lesbian drama 'Blue is the Warmest Color' wins Palme d'Or

Abdellatif Kechiche's teen-lesbian coming-of-age story "Blue Is the Warmest Color" has won the 2013 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, a jury headed by Steven Spielberg announced on Sunday.

Based on the graphic novel "Le Bleu est une couleur chaude" and titled "La vie d'Adele - Chapitre 1 & 2" in French, the film debuted only three days before the end of the festival and immediately became one of the biggest critical hits of Cannes -- and the only real unexpected breakthrough among the competition titles.

It also drew attention because of its graphic and extended sex scenes between its unknown lead actress, Adele Exarchopoulos, and Lea Seydoux. It is both the most sexually explicit Palme winner and the first gay-themed love story to win.
In an unprecedented move that sidestepped the Cannes rule that the big winner can't also receive an acting prize, the jury awarded the Palme d'Or to Kechiche and to Exarchopoulos and Seydoux.

The Coen brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Like Father, Like Son" won the Grand Jury Prize and the Jury Prize, the Cannes equivalent of second and third-place honors.

Bruce Dern won the best actor award for his role in Alexander Payne's "Nebraska," and Berenice Bejo was named best actress for Asghar Farhadi's "The Past."

In something of a surprise, Mexican director Amat Escalante won the best director award for the violent drug-war movie "Heli."
The screenplay award went to Chinese writer-director Jia Zhangke for "A Touch of Sin."

Anthony Chen's "Ilo Ilo" won the Camera d'Or as the best first feature of the festival. This year, 18 films were eligible from the Un Certain Regard, Directors' Fortnight, International Critics' Week and Midnight sections.

"Safe," by Moon Byoung-Gon, won the award for best short.

The high-profile jury was headed by Steven Spielberg and included actors Christoph Waltz, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Auteuil and Vidya Balan and directors Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Naomi Kawase and Lynne Ramsay.