South Korean film Parasite by Bong Joon-ho wins big at the Cannes Film Festival

South Korean film Parasite, a dark comedy by Bong Joon-ho, has won the coveted Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

At the Cannes closing ceremony, on Saturday night, Joon-ho received a standing ovation and a loud cheer from the audience when his film was named the Palme d’Or winner. Jury president Alejandro González Iñárritu said that the Palme d’Or decision was unanimous.

Reportedly, Antonio Banderas won the best actor award for his role as a past-his-prime director in Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory, and Mati Diop’s Atlantics landed the runner-up Grand Prix award.

Parasite wins big at this year’s Cannes Film festival, while Quentin Tarantinos Once Upon A Time which was highly praised but returned empty-handed. It was the second year in a row that an Asian film took the Palme.

Bong Joon-ho became the first South Korean director to win Cannes’ top prize, his most recent films were Okja and Snowpiercer.

Last year the Palme went to Japanese Hirokazu Kore-eda’s warm and empathetic ‘Shoplifters’. History was made and repeated itself, albeit with a wicked twist, but that’s where the similarities end.

When the film Parasites premiered at the Cannes five days ago, it received an eight-minute standing ovation.

The film tells the story of a poor family becoming obsessed with a rich one after their son gets a job as a tutor for the wealthy family. The film cast includes renowned actor Song Kang-ho, along with Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong.