Gus Van Sant's film Elephant yesterday took the Cannes film festival's 2003 Palme d'Or. The film starring high school students rather than professional actors focuses on the 1999 Columbine school shootings.
Van Sant isn't a stranger to top awards (Oscars for Good Will Hunting which he directed) though the Palme d'Or hasn't gone to an American since Quentin Tarantino took it for Pulp Fiction (1994).
