French director Julia Ducournau, center, poses on stage with US actress Sharon Stone, left, French actor Vincent Lindon, center, French actress Agathe Rousselle. 2nd right, and US director and Jury President of the 74th Cannes Film Festival Spike Lee after she won the Palme d'Or for her film "Titane" during the closing ceremony of the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 17, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)

CANNES - Titane, a wildly imaginative film about a serial killer by French director Julia Ducournau, won the top Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday - as revealed by jury head ahead of time Spike Lee in a gaffe at the ceremony.

Ducournau, 37, became only the second woman to win the top award at Cannes.

In a moment of confusion when asked in French to reveal what one of the prizes was, the US film director read off a card and prematurely announced the best movie winner.

"No excuses, I messed up," Lee told a news conference after the event. "I'm a big sports fan, it's like the guy at the end of the game at the foul line, he misses a free throw, or the guy misses a kick."

It was not the first blooper moment at an awards ceremony: at the 2017 Oscars, musical "La La Land" was incorrectly announced as best movie, instead of "Moonlight".

Ducournau, 37, became only the second woman to win the top award at Cannes. Her violent film, where the heroine has sex with a car, split critics, with some praising its originality but others put off by its frantic and messy approach.

Ducournau, 37, became only the second woman to win the top award at Cannes. Her violent film, where the heroine has sex with a car, split critics, with some praising its originality but others put off by its frantic and messy approach

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"Ducournau's beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy is a nightmarish yet mischievously comic barrage of sex, violence, lurid lighting and pounding music," critics at the BBC broadcaster said. "It's also impossible to predict where it's going to go next."

Described as a "body horror" movie and based around a character with a titanium plate in her head, the film impressed with its energy.

"I've never seen a film in my life.... where a Cadillac impregnated a woman," Lee said.

Ducournau had previously found critical success with "Raw" in 2016. The only previous female winner of Cannes' top award was Jane Campion who shared the prize in 1993 for “The Piano”.

The world's biggest film festival returned to the French Riviera after a 2020 hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic in one of the most unpredictable contests in years.

Stars happy to be back

The event drew stars such as Matt Damon and Sharon Stone to the red carpet, with moviemakers and actors delighted to be back though attendance was down on previous years.

Once the awards were officially announced, other big winners included Leos Carax, picked as best director for "Annette", a musical about two artists caught in a twisted love affair.

Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamusa Oe of Japan won best screenplay for their tale of heartbreak and loss "Drive My Car".

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Renate Reinsve won best actress for her role in "The Worst Person In The World" by Joachim Trier, a modern-day romantic comedy that was a big hit with critics.

"Compartment no6" by Juho Kuosmanen, about a woman who embarks on a train journey across Russia, tied with "A Hero" by Iran's Asghar Farhadi, which features a prisoner faced with a moral quandary, for the Grand Prix distinction.

Caleb Landry Jones, who starred in Australian film "Nitram", won best actor.

The Jury Prize, another runner-up award for best movie, went to two films: "Ahead's Knee" by Israel's Nadav Lapid and "Memoria" by Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul.