Cannes Film Festival 2013: Palme d’Or Goes To Film About Lesbian Romance, “Spellbound By The Two Brilliant Young Actresses” Said Jury Pres. Steven Spielberg

The Cannes Film Festival 2013 wrapped up Sunday night and the highest accolade from the world’s most prestigious film festival, the Palme d’Or, was given to the film “Blue Is The Warmest Colour,” a French-produced film by Tunisian-born director Abdellatif Kechiche.

The movie is about a passionate lesbian relationship in modern-day Lille, and the motion picture gaining the highest honor at Cannes was greeted with home-crowd cheers and a sense that it validated France’s painfully accomplished victory to legalize gay marriage.

Kechiche dedicated his award to “the youth of France” and the Tunisian revolution, where “they have the aspiration to be free, to express themselves and love in full freedom.”

Speaking to the press after the win, the director expounded on his earlier comments from the speech, saying, "Young people in France are often way ahead of my generation in their thinking, and they are open to the world. Tunisian youth are the same: that's why there was a revolution. The older people didn't listen."

The Cannes Film Festival 2013 jury president Steven Spielberg was lavish in his praise for the film, "The film is a great love story … We were absolutely spellbound by the two brilliant young actresses, and the way the director observed his young players."

The American director denied that political sensitivities played a part in the deliberations of him and his fellow jurors. The jury for this year’s festival included Nicole Kidman, directors Ang Lee and Lynne Ramsay, and “Django Unchained” actor Christopher Waltz. Spielberg said, "Politics was not a companion in our discussion; it was not in the room."

The British director Lynne Ramsay, who was part of the jury, said, “Everyone on the jury saw behind the gay relationship, it was just a love story, and it didn’t matter if it was gay or straight.”

There was a heap of praise for two of the leading actors of “Blue is the Warmest Colour,” Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos, both were included in the Palm d’Or citation alongside the director.

The actors' citation in the award is an unconventional move by this year’s festival jurors.

According to Spielberg, "It was an obvious conclusion that without Léa and Adèle, the synergy could not have happened. If the casting had been even slightly different, if anything had been a little left of centre, it wouldn't have worked. It was the perfect choice from a sensitive film-maker."