French director Jacques Audiard's film Dheepan has won the top prize at Cannes, the Palme d'Or.

The gritty drama tells the story of refugees fleeing post-civil war Sri Lanka for a life in France.

The choice made by the jury led by American filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen was a surprise.

Holocaust drama Son of Saul took the Grand Prix. Vincent Lindon won Best Actor while Rooney Mara and Emmanuelle Bercot shared Best Actress.

Dheepan tells of a former Tamil Tiger fighter who links up with two strangers to pretend to be a family and find a life of asylum in a tough, drug-infested housing estate on the edge of Paris.

Audiard, who previously made A Prophet and Rust and Bone, said: "To receive a prize from the Coen brothers is something pretty exceptional. I'm very touched. I'm thinking of my father."

Joel Coen said: "This isn't a jury of film critics. This is a jury of artists who are looking at the work."

The Grand Prix, essentially the runner-up prize, went to Hungarian newcomer Laszlo Nemes for Son of Saul and its depiction of the Auschwitz, gas chambers.
"This continent is still haunted by this subject," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32867228

68th Cannes Film Festival top awards:
Palme D'Or: Dheepan
Grand Prix: Son of Saul
Jury Prize: The Lobster
Best Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Best Actor: Vincent Lindon
Best Actress: Rooney Mara and Emmanuelle Bercot
Best Screenplay: Michel Franco (Chronic)
Camera d'Or (Best first feature): La Tierra Y la Sombra