Son's Room Wins Top Cannes Prize

May 20 -- The Son's Room, Italian director NanniMoretti's stirring account of a family whose happy life isshattered by the death of a teen-age son, won the top prize at theCannes Film Festival today.

The festival's second-highest honor went to The PianoTeacher, Austrian director Michael Haneke's dark tale of a musicinstructor seduced by a student.

The Piano Teacher also took both acting awards, withIsabelle Huppert winning best actress and Benoit Magimel winningbest actor.

Coen Brothers Split Director Award

Best-director honors were split between Joel Coen for hisfilm-noir thriller The Man Who Wasn't There, co-written withhis brother, Ethan, and David Lynch for his enigmatic Hollywoodtale Mulholland Drive.

The directing awards were presented by Jodie Foster, who had todrop out as Cannes jury president because of a scheduling conflictfor a film she was shooting.

The Golden Camera award for first-time directors went toCanada's Zacharias Kunuk for Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, thestory of two Eskimo brothers who challenge the rule of an evilshaman.

The screenplay award went to Bosnia's Danis Tanovic for theirreverent war satire No Man's Land, which he also directed.

The jury awarded a prize for technical achievements to TuDuu-Chih, sound designer for two films in competition, MilleniumMambo and What Time Is It There?

Coppola Returns With Redux

And celebrity watchers complained that top stars were scarcethis year. Those who did turn up included Sean Penn, FrancesMcDormand, Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

For the closing-night film, spectators were treated to visits byMelanie Griffith, who was honored at Cannes with a lifetimeachievement award, and her husband, Antonio Banderas; MillaJovovich; and Nick Nolte, who is shooting Neil Jordan's filmDouble Down in France.

Nicole Kidman, the star of opening-night film Moulin Rouge,provided a festival highlight when she wandered off the red carpetat the movie's premiere to shake hands with fans.