Body horror-thriller film Titane, helmed by French director Julia Ducournau, won the top cinema award Palme d’Or at Cannes on Saturday. The victory makes 37-year-old Ducournau the second woman to win the award.

This came as the chairman of the jury, Spike Lee, mistakenly announced the winner before it was due. Spike Lee was the first black jury head in the history of Cannes film festival.

“This evening has been perfect because it’s been imperfect,” Julia Ducournau was quoted as saying by The Guardian as she acknowledged Spike Lee’s slip-up. “Thank you for letting the monsters in,” she added.

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‘Titane’ was voted the winner by a jury comprising actors like Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Mylène Farmer and Kang Ho Song, as well as directors Mati Diop, Jessica Hausner and Kleber Mendonca Filho.

It is reportedly one of the most violent movies of all time and marks the debut of Agathe Rousselle. The story revolves around a girl named Alexia who has sex with a car and pretends to be a boy, even though she’s pregnant.

The Hollywood Reporter saw the award as “a final stake through the heart” at the “image of French cinema as mainly consisting of artily shot black-and-white movies about straight men smoking and having sex with their mistress(es).”

Also Read | Cannes wraps up with ‘Titane’ winning Palme d’Or; see full list of winners

The French film beat Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Nanni Moretti’s Three Floors, and Sean Penn’s Flag Day starring Eddie Marsan in Cannes.

Moving further, Ahed’s Knee and Memoria by Apichatpong Weerasethakul shared the special jury prize presented by Rosamund Pike. The award for the best actor went to Caleb Landry Jones for Nitram, directed by Justin Kurzel. Renate Reinsve won the Best Actress for Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World.

In an effort to be environmentally conscious, the red carpet this year was made out of recycled materials instead of the usual PVC. Furthermore, plastic bottles were banned on the site and electric cars were deployed for logistics.