Director Justine Triet made up for the lack of protests and the power outage at the Cannes Film Festival with a dynamic political statement in which she lambasted the French government.

Triet, who won the Palme d’Or, supported the protest movement against pension reform and criticized the government for trying to shut down the movement. She said that France’s “neo-liberal government” was making culture more like a product and hurting the French cultural exception.

Triet gave her award to young makers and those who have trouble making movies. She also called for more chances and help for new talent. Her comments were a reference to a talk that took place last fall at an exhibition congress. During that meeting, some people in the industry blamed French “auteur” cinema for falling box office numbers and called for less French film production.

People had different responses to the director’s speech. France’s Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, was surprised and defended the way France finances movies. Critics pointed out that the National Film Board and other groups funded Triet’s movie “Anatomy of a Fall,” which was critical of the government.

“Anatomy of a Fall” is a feminist courtroom drama starring Sandra Hüller. It’s about a German writer on trial for killing her husband, and Sandra Hüller plays the main character. Even though a lot of the dialogue is in English, the movie is considered to be a strong contender for France’s Oscar entry in the international feature film category. Neon bought it after its screening at Cannes, where it got good reviews.