Kirsten Dunst bags best actress award at Cannes despite director ban

A Robert De Niro-led-jury has adjudged Kirsten Dunst as the best actress for Lars von Trier’s Melancholia at the Cannes Film Festival.

The 29-year-old actress thought her chances of winning at Cannes were dimmed after von Trier was banned from the festival for telling a press conference that he understood Hitler and that he 'was a Nazi'.

His comments had sent shock waves through the film world.

“I kept thinking 'Lars, shut up',” Kirsten told the Daily Mail.

“He's a great filmmaker who, sometimes I feel should let his films speak for themselves,” she added.

In Melancholia, Dunst portrays newly-wed bride Justine who instantly regrets her marriage while at the same time the planet Earth is on collision course with another planet.