Cannes 2025: Diego Cespedes’ ‘The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo’ Wins Un Certain Regard Top Prize

The Cannes Film Festival 2025 concluded its Un Certain Regard section with a wave of emotional and political storytelling, awarding Diego Cespedes’ debut feature, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, as the top winner of the coveted second-tier competition.

Set in early 1980s Chile, the film sensitively explores a queer family’s journey during the emergence of the AIDS crisis. Cespedes, while accepting the award, gave a stirring speech:

“This award doesn’t celebrate perfection. It celebrates that fear, that stubbornness to exist just as we are, even when it makes others uncomfortable.”

Other Major Winners in Un Certain Regard 2025:

• Best Director: Once Upon a Time in Gaza by Palestinian twin filmmakers Arab and Tarzan Nasser. Their film tells the story of a low-level drug dealer during the year Hamas took control of Gaza.

“To every single Palestinian: your lives matter and your voice matters, and soon Palestine will be free,” said Tarzan Nasser, drawing a standing ovation.

• Jury Prize (Runner-up): A Poet – A darkly comic take on the art world by Colombian director Simon Mesa Soto.

• Best Performance:

  • Frank Dillane for Urchin, a raw portrayal of homelessness in debutant Harris Dickinson’s moving drama.

  • Cleo Diara for I Only Rest in the Storm, directed by Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Pinho, tackles modern-day neo-colonialism.

• Best Screenplay: Pillion, a provocative romance featuring Alexander Skarsgård, penned and directed by British filmmaker Harry Lighton.

India at Cannes 2025

India made a powerful entry into this year’s segment with Neeraj Ghaywan’s film Homebound. Starring Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa, the film follows two childhood friends from a North Indian village chasing their dream of joining the police force to gain dignity and respect—only to confront moral dilemmas that threaten their bond.

Official Synopsis of Homebound:
“Two childhood friends from a small North Indian village chase a police job that promises them the dignity they’ve long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together.”

This year’s Un Certain Regard section was marked by bold storytelling, diverse voices, and the emergence of new directors—including Scarlett Johansson, Harris Dickinson, and Kristen Stewart, who all made their directorial debuts.