Dheepan, the latest film from A Prophet and Rust and Bone director Jacques Audiard, has walked away with the Palme d'Or, the top prize of the Cannes Film Festival.

The film - about a trio of Sri Lankans who pretend to be a family in order to flee their war-torn country to go to France - was awarded the Palme d'Or by a jury led by the Coen brothers.

The Grand Prix (the runner-up award) went to widely acclaimed Holocaust drama Son of Saul by first-time director László Nemes, while the surreal romance The Lobster - starring Colin Farrell and shot in Ireland - won the Prix du jury.

Elsewhere, Hou Hsiao-hsien won Best Director for The Assassin - his first full feature since 2007's Flight of the Red Balloon. Best actor award went to Vincent Lindon for The Measure Of A Man, while Rooney Mara (Carol) and Emmanuelle Bercot (Mon Roi) shared the award for Best Actress. Michel Franco's script for Chronic was awarded Best Screenplay.

Veteran French director Agnes Varda - one of the key directors of the French New Wave, and best known for films like Cleo from 5 to 7 and Vagabond - received an honourary award at tonight's closing ceremony, a few days ahead of her 87th birthday.

Jacques Audiard has previously won the Grand Prix prize with A Prophet in 2009, but a number of film critics expressed surprise after the verdict as Dheepan was not considered by some to be as good as his earlier work.

In the post awards news conference Jake Gyllenhaal, who was also on the jury, said what he found engaging about the film was that it was about how three strangers became a family.