Ukrainian triumph at Cannes

Ukrainian director Maryna Vroda has won the Palme d'Or for short films at this year's Cannes film festival.

With her short movie Cross, Vroda became the second ever Ukrainian to win a prize at the esteemed French fest.

Cross was shot entirely with amateur actors. A French-Ukrainian co-production, the film harks back to physical education classes taken whilst the director was a schoolgirl in her homeland, as she explained to French Radio in the lead-up to the festival.

"I have always remembered the school run. For some reason I liked the way we pupils, lined up, and fled into the woods. Some people could, and some people could not run, but everyone was forced to. I began to think about it deeply, and a story has appeared."

President Viktor Yanukovych was amongst the dignitaries to congratulate the 29-year-old artist, who now has the film world at her feet.

Meanwhile, the Palme d'Or in the full-length feature section was won by Terence Malick for his metaphysical concoction, The Tree of Life. The American director, who took a twenty year break from film-making after his 1978 work Days of Heaven, seems to be firmly back in the saddle.