Cannes, May 23 (UNI) Acclaimed British filmmaker Ken Loach's 'I, Daniel Blake', a sharp commentary on poverty and homelessness in the modern world, has won the Palme d'Or at the 69th Cannes film festival. This is Loach's second Palme d'Or, the top prize of the Cannes festival. He had earlier won the award for 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' in 2006. Cannes competition jury president, Australian director-producer George Miller, announced the Palme d'Or winner at a glittering closing ceremony last night attended by the Who's Who of world cinema. American actor Mel Gibson presented the Palme d'Or to Loach. 'I, Daniel Blake' was filmed by Loach this year after coming out of retirement he announced following the release of his previous film 'Jimmy's Hall' in 2014. "People are constrained and shaped by the social and economic circumstances we find ourselves in," Loach said after receiving the prize, referring to the struggle of his lead character, Daniel Blake, a 59-year-old carpenter, who is forced to live on social welfare and food coupons, after losing his job. "You just take one little story and hopes it connects to people." Loach added. The Grand Prize, the second biggest Cannes award after the Palme d'Or, went to 'It is Only the End of the World' directed by Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan. The Best Direction prize was shared by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu for 'Baccalaureat' (Graduation) and French filmmaker Olivier Assayas for 'Personal Shopper'. The award for the Best Screenplay went to Iranian director Asghar Farhadi for 'Forushande' (The Salesman). The Jury Prize was bagged by 'American Honey' by British filmmaker Andrea Arnold. Iranian actor Shahab Hosseini was adjudged the the Best Actor for his role in 'Forushande' (The Salesman), the only film, which picked up two awards. The Best Actress award went to Philippine actor Jaclyn Rose for her role as a mother of four fighting police corruption to keep her small convenient store alive in 'Ma' Rosa' by Brillante Mendoza. The Palme d'Or for the Best Short Film in competition went to Spanish film 'Timecode' by Juanjo Giumenez. 'The Girl Who Danced With the Devil' by Brazilian Joao Paulo Miranda Maira won a Special Jury Mention in the short films competition. The Camera d'Or award for the Best First Feature Film of a director went to 'Divines' by Houda Benyamina, which was part of the Director's Fortnight parallel section of the Cannes festival. Celebrated French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, who was discovered by film legend François Truffaut in 'The 400 Blows', received an Honorary Palme d'Or on the occasion. French filmmaker Jacques Audiard had won the Palme d'Or last year for 'Dheepan', the story of Tamil refugees fleeing Sri Lanka during the civil war. The competition jury this year included American actor Kirsten Dunst, Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, French actor Vanessa Paradis and Danish actor Mads Mikkelson. Among the films vying for the Palme d'Or this year was 'Julieta' by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. The prestigious competition section of the Cannes festival had 21 films this year. The festival, which began on May 11, concluded last night with the screening of the Palme d'Or winner, 'I, Daniel Blake'. Indian documentary film 'The Cinema Travellers' by debutant directors Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya won a jury prize at the Golden Eye documentary awards on the sidelines of the Cannes festival. 'The Cinema Travellers' was bestowed the Honourable Mention of the jury of the documentary award. Last year, Hindi feature film 'Masaan' directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, part of Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes festival, had won the Promising Future Prize and International Critics Prize. There were no feature films from India in Cannes festival official selection this year. The last Indian film in Cannes competition was 'Swaham' by Malayalam director Shaji N Karun in 1994. UNI XC PR SB1205