Turkey's Ceylan dedicates Cannes Palme d'Or to anti-Erdogan protesters

Turkish film director Nuri Bilge Ceylan dedicated his Palme d’Or to young people killed during anti-government protests in his country after his film Winter Sleep won the top honour at the Cannes Film Festival. Britain’s Timothy Spall won best actor prize, while Canadian Xavier Dolan and Franco-Swiss Jean-Luc Godard shared the Jury Prizes.

Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan with Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman after receiving the Palme d'Or Reuters

Ceylan beat 17 other directors, including David Cronenberg and Michel Hazanavicius, with a domestic drama that lasts more than three hours and has had rave reviews.

He dedicated the award to “youth who have lost their lives” in the last year’s protests against the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We had a very troubled year last year and these young people actually taught us a lot of things and some of them sacrificed our lives for our future in a way. So they deserve this dedication I think," he said.

Bennett Miller took best director award for Foxcatcher, based on a true story of the murder of an Olympic wrestler by a multimillionaire.

The runner-up for the Grand Prix was Italian Alice Rohrwacher for The Wonders, a lyrical look at beekeeping.

The jury liked so many films that they decided to give two Jury Prizes.

They said the fact that one is the oldest director and one the youngest director in the line-up this year, was a coincidence.

The double prize went to Xavier Dolan for his film Mommy and to Jean-Luc Godard for Goodbye to Language, a film in 3D, starring a dog, which jury president Jane Campion described as “so modern”.

British actor Timothy Spall won the best actor prize for playing British painter JMW Turner in Mike Leigh's biopic, Mr Turner.

Spall’s relationship with Leigh began 33 years ago.

He starred in Leigh's Secrets and Lies, which won the Palme d'Or in 1996.

Having played supporting actor so often, 57-year-old Spall was overwhelmed by the jury's recognition of his work.

British-American actress Julianne Moore won best actress for her highly praised role as a Hollywood star in Cronenberg’s satirical Maps to the Stars.

Best screenplay went to Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan.

The award ceremony took place a day earlier than usual because France was to vote in the European parliament elections on Sunday.