'I, Daniel Blake' wins Palme d'Or at Cannes

PARIS (AP) — Veteran British director Ken Loach won his second Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday for I, Daniel Blake — a stark portrayal of a disabled man's struggle with the crushing benefits system in northern England.

The 79-year-old was presented the festival's top prize by Mel Gibson at a ceremony on the French Riviera. Accepting the award, Loach punched his fists in the air in victory and said he hoped his gritty, social realist movie would hold a mirror up to the impact of policies of austerity on the poorest in society.

"We must give a message of hope, we must say another world is possible," he said.

I, Daniel Blake chronicles a middle-aged widower from Newcastle who, after a heart attack, can neither work nor get government aid. It follows the sometimes comic, frequently painful frustrations as he winds his way through an archaic system that seems designed to bring him down.

"There is a conscious cruelty in the way that we are organizing our lives now, where the most vulnerable people are told that their poverty is their own fault," Loach told reporters. "If you have no work, it's your fault you haven't got a job."

Loach is more a regular at Cannes than almost any filmmaker. He has had 12 films in competition at the festival over the years, including his Palme d'Or-winning The Wind That Shakes the Barley.

Canadian director Xavier Dolan picked up the runner-up Grand Prize, seen by some critics as a vindication for him personally after his film It's Only the End of the World garnered lukewarm reviews. The 27-year-old Dolan won the jury prize in 2014 for Mommy.

The Jury Prize went to Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, about an itinerant magazine sales crew and starring Shia LeBeouf.

The jury of the 69th Cannes Film Festival was headed by director George Miller, who described the jury's selection as "two words: rigorous and happy."

Despite mixed reviews, director Asghar Farhadi's film The Salesman picked up several awards, including best screenplay and best actor for Shahab Hosseini. Jaclyn Jose won best actress for her role as an embattled convenience store owner in a Manila slum in director Brillante Mendoza's Ma' Rosa.

Romanian director Cristian Mungui won best director for Graduation, an award he shared with French director Olivier Assayas for his paranormal thriller Personal Shopper, starring Kristen Stewart.

The festival's top winners:

Palme d’Or:I, Daniel Blake

Grand Prix:It’s Only the End of the World

Director (tie): Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper, and Cristian Mungiu, Graduation

Actor: Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman

Actress: Jaclyn Jose, Ma' Rosa

Contributing: Bryan Alexander