“Blue is the Warmest Color: The Life of Adele” — a tender, sensual lesbian romance — is the winner of the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The French film has been hailed as a landmark film for its intimate portrait of a same-sex relationship.

The jury, headed by Steven Spielberg, took the unusual move of awarding the Palme not just to Tunisian-born director Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the film’s two stars: Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. The three clutched each other as they accepted the award, one of cinema’s greatest honors.

Spielberg told the AP:

The film is a great love story that made all of us feel privileged to be a fly on the wall, to see this story of deep love and deep heartbreak evolve from the beginning. The director didn’t put any constraints on the narrative, on the storytelling. He let the scenes play as long as scenes play in real life.”

Exarchopoulos stars as a 15-year-old girl whose life is changed when she falls in love with an older woman, played by Seydoux.

Winners

Palme d’Or
Blue Is The Warmest Color, dir: Abdellatif Kechiche

Grand Prize
Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan and Joel Coen

Best Director
Amat Escalante, Heli

Jury Prize
Like Father, Like Son, dir: Hirokazu Kore-Eda

Best Screenplay
Zhangke Jia, A Touch Of Sin

Best Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Past

Best Actor
Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Camera d’Or
Ilo Ilo, dir: Anthony Chen

Short Film
Safe, dir: Byoung-Gon Moon