'It Was Just An Accident' wins Cannes' top prize

Revenge thriller 'It Was Just An Accident' by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was barred from filmmaking for 15 years by the government in Tehran, won the Palme d'Or top prize on Saturday.

With the award, Panahi now has the rare honour of winning the top prize at all three major European film festivals, after nabbing Berlin's Golden Bear for Taxi in 2015 and the Golden Lion at Venice for The Circle in 2000.

The 64-year-old director, who last attended the festival in person in 2003, addressed his prize to all Iranians.

"Hoping that we will reach a day when no one will tell us what to wear or not wear, what to do or not do," he said.

Panahi, who has been imprisoned several times in Iran, plans to return to his country after the festival, he told Reuters.

Panahi added that he would never forget his first day at this year's festival, and getting to watch the film with an audience after all those years: "Every moment was thrilling."

It Was Just An Accident, which follows a garage owner who rashly kidnaps a one-legged man who looks like the one who tortured him in prison and then has to decide his fate, is only the second Iranian film to win, after Taste of Cherry in 1997.

"Art mobilizes the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life," said jury president Juliette Binoche when announcing why they chose Panahi for the award.

Twenty-two films in total were competing for the prize at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with entries from well-known directors Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson and Ari Aster.

Saturday's closing ceremony, which officially ends the glamour-filled festival, went off without a hitch after the Cannes area was hit by a power outage for several hours.

Sentimental Value from acclaimed director Joachim Trier received the Grand Prix, the second-highest prize after the Palme d'Or.

The jury prize was split between the intergenerational family drama Sound of Falling from German director Mascha Schilinski and Sirat, about a father and son who head into the Moroccan desert, by French-Spanish director Oliver Laxe.

Brazil's The Secret Agent was handed two awards, one for best actor for Wagner Moura, as well as best director for Kleber Mendonca Filho.

Newcomer Nadia Melliti took home best actress for The Little Sister, a queer coming-of-age story about the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris.

Belgium's Dardenne brothers, who have the rare honour of already having won two Palme d'Or prizes, took home the award for best screenplay for their film Young Mothers.

Outside the competition line-up, director Spike Lee brought Highest 2 Lowest starring Denzel Washington to the festival, while Tom Cruise was in town for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.

Washington, who was only briefly at the festival, received a surprise honorary Palme d'Or on Monday night.

Robert De Niro had received the same honour, which had been announced in advance, during the opening ceremony on May 13.