Winners in the 62nd Cannes Film Festival

Despite being tagged by writer Roger Ebert as the worst film in Cannes Film Festival history, Philippines' entry Kinatay has won for its director Brillante Mendoza the Best Director award during the closing ceremony of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival held Sunday night, May 24, 2009 in France.

Brillante Mendoza's victory as Best Director was one of the big surprises during the awarding ceremony. Another surprise was the Best Actor awardee Christoph Waltz for the movie Inglourious Basterds.

Aside from Kinatay, other Asian winners were South Korea's Thirst, Iran's Nobody Knows About The Persian Cats and Hong Kong China's Spring Fever (left photo).

The Palme d'Or or the Golden Palm, the top prize in the festival, was awarded to Austria's Michael Haneke for the film The White Ribbon.

Here's the complete list of winners in the 62nd Cannes Film Festival (2009):

Palme d'Or (Golden Palm): "Das weiße Band" (The White Ribbon), by Michael Haneke (Austria)

Grand Prix (Grand Prize): "Un prophète" (A Prophet), by Jacques Audiard (France)

Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director): Brillante Mendoza, "Kinatay" (The Philippines)

Prix du scénario (Best Screenplay): Feng Mei, "Chūn fēng chén zuì de wǎn shàng" (Spring Fever) (China)

Prix d'interprétation masculine (Best Actor): Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds" (United States)

Prix d'interprétation féminine (Best Actress): Charlotte Gainsbourg, "Antichrist" (Denmark)

Prix du Jury (Jury Prize): "Fish Tank," by Andrea Arnold (Britain) and "Thirst," By Park Chan-wook (South Korea)

Special Prize/Lifetime Achievement Award: Alain Resnais (France)

Camera d'Or (First-Time Filmmaker): "Samson and Delilah," by Warwick Thornton (Australia)

Palme d'Or du court métrage (Best Short Film): "Arena," by Joao Salaviza (Portugal)

Short Film Special Distinction – "The Six Dollar Fifty Man" by Louis Sutherland (New Zealand)

Prix Un Certain Regard – "Kynodontas" (Dogtooth), by Yorgos Lanthimos (Norway)

Un Certain Regard – Jury Prize – "Politist, Adjectiv" (Policier, Adjectif), by Corneliu Porumboiu (Romania)

Un Certain Regard – Special Jury Prize: "Kasi as gorbehaie Irani khabar nadare" (Nobody Knows About The Persian Cats), by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran) and "Le père de mes enfants" (The Father of My Children), by Mia Hansen-Løve (France)