CANNES, France (Reuters) - As the credits roll on another Cannes Film Festival, it may go down as a year in which the on-screen line up outshone that on the famed red carpet.
"It seems to me that there were more potential 'palmists', or winners this year," said British film critic and author Mark Cousins. "By my reckoning there were seven films that were possible winners out of 21. Usually it's four, or even three.
"This is a good year for serious cinema."
But for the paparazzi it was a year to forget.
"This year is pretty poor for stars," said one seasoned snapper who has been covering Cannes for 22 years.
"The opening evening, for example, was very French. For me it is a bit of a shame to have only French people and not any really major stars."
The winner of the coveted Palme d'Or prize was "L'Enfant," a powerful film about a young thief who sells his own child, directed by Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
After triumphing with "Rosetta" in 1999, the prize places the double-winning duo in elite company at Cannes.
Another big winner at Saturday's glittering evening ceremony was Hollywood actor Tommy Lee Jones, who at nearly 60 has directed his first feature film which went on to win best screenplay and best actor for Jones himself.
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" explores life along the American-Mexican border, and Jones plays a gnarled ranch foreman out to give his dead friend a decent burial.
American Jim Jarmusch took the runners-up prize for "Broken Flowers," a portrayal of a man in his 50s who is told he has a son he did not know about, and goes in search of the mother.
