Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall took home the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival,marking the third time a woman-directed film has earned the prestigious award, according to the Associated Press. The French courtroom drama stars Sandra Huller as a writer trying to clear her name from her husband’s death. This year’s edition of the film festival included seven films directed by women out of the 21 films in competition, setting a new record — and standing in stark contrast with the complete absence of women-directed films at the festival four decades ago.

Other prizes awarded at the festival:The Zone of Interest, directed by Jonathan Glazer and also starring Huller, was awarded the Grand Prix.Fallen Leaves, directed by Finland’s Aki Kaurismäki, earned the Cannes Jury Prize, while Japanese Koji Yakusho walked away with the Best Actor award for his performance in Perfect Days and Merve Dizdar was named Best Actress for her performance in About Dry Grasses. You can check out the full list of prizewinners here.

Saudi Arabia’s nascent film industry also got its time in the sun at Cannes: Saudi producers were featured in the opening credits of three films, including Johnny Depp’s Jeanne du Barry, competing for Palme d’Or award, Bloomberg reports. Saudi “also sponsored multiple events in Cannes,” including a cinema night and a forum for MENA executives to discuss “tips for finding financing, partners and locations in the region,” the business information service said.


Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink has been cleared to begin human trials on its brain computer-interface product, the company announced on Friday. While no official date has been made public yet, the company website states that the patient registry will soon accept applications from individuals aged 18+ living in the US who suffer from quadriplegia, paraplegia, vision, hearing, or speech impairment and are able to give consent. The purpose of the brain implant is to “restore independence and improve lives” for individuals with disabilities, the website says, but the company has also said it intends to work on products that will “surpass able-bodied human performance with our technology.”

How does it work? Because of how minute the procedure is, it can only be performed throughsurgical robots that are programmed to insert threads with electrical components that then translate brain activity and transmit it to computers. This can help people with disabilities overcome their physical restrictions. Neuralink had showcased its technology last year by embedding the chips in monkeys’ brains, allowing them to play video games just by thinking about the physical motions of the game.

Others are at it too: Neuralink is not the only company looking into high-tech medical solutions. The technology has been advancing for decades with companies like Blackrock Neurotech and Synchronhaving already implanted devices in at least 42 people’s brains around the world, although none have indicated plans to transcend the normal abilities of healthy bodies, the Washington Post reports.