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 Ducournau, 37, became only the
second woman to win the top award at Cannes.
In a moment of confusion when asked in French to
reveal what one of the prizes was, the U.S. film
director read off a card and prematurely
announced the best movie winner.
"No excuses, I messed up," Lee told a news
conference after the event. "I'm a big sports
fan, it's like the guy at the end of the game at
the foul line, he misses a free throw, or the
guy misses a kick."
It was not the first blooper moment at an awards
ceremony: at the 2017 Oscars, musical "La La
Land" was incorrectly announced as best movie,
instead of "Moonlight".
Ducournau, 37, became only the second woman to
win the top award at Cannes. Her violent film,
where the heroine has sex with a car, split
critics, with some praising its originality but
others put off by its frantic and messy
approach.
"Ducournau's beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy is
a nightmarish yet mischievously comic barrage of
sex, violence, lurid lighting and pounding
music," critics at the BBC broadcaster said.
"It's also impossible to predict where it's
going to go next."
Described as a "body horror" movie and based
around a character with a titanium plate in her
head, the film impressed with its energy.
"I've never seen a film in my life.... where a
Cadillac impregnated a woman," Lee said.
Ducournau had previously found critical success
with "Raw" in 2016. The only previous female
winner of Cannes' top award was Jane Campion who
shared the prize in 1993 for “The Piano”.
The world's biggest film festival returned to
the French Riviera after a 2020 hiatus due to
the coronavirus pandemic in one of the most
unpredictable contests in years.
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 STARS HAPPY TO BE BACK
The event drew stars such as Matt Damon and
Sharon Stone to the red carpet, with moviemakers
and actors delighted to be back though
attendance was down on previous years.
Once the awards were officially
announced, other big winners included Leos Carax,
picked as best director for "Annette", a musical
about two artists caught in a twisted love
affair.
Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamusa Oe of Japan won
best screenplay for their tale of heartbreak and
loss "Drive My Car".
Renate Reinsve won best actress for her role in
"The Worst Person In The World" by Joachim Trier,
a modern-day romantic comedy that was a big hit
with critics.
"Compartment no6" by Juho Kuosmanen, about a
woman who embarks on a train journey across
Russia, tied with "A Hero" by Iran's Asghar
Farhadi, which features a prisoner faced with a
moral quandary, for the Grand Prix distinction.
Caleb Landry Jones, who starred in Australian
film "Nitram", won best actor.
The Jury Prize, another runner-up award for best
movie, went to two films: "Ahed's Knee" by
Israel's Nadav Lapid and "Memoria" by Thailand's
Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
(Reporting by Sarah White and Sybille de La
Hamaide; Editing by Louise Heavens, Andrew
Cawthorne and Nick Zieminski)
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