French Director Justine Triet became the third female director to win the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'or beating out 20 other films in competition for the top prize.

Triet used her award speech to criticize how the protest against pension reforms in France "has been denied and repressed in a shocking way" and also called for more room to be made for young filmmakers.

Triet won the prize over veteran directors like Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Ken Loach and Wim Wenders, all of whom have at least one Palme D'or under their belts.

She joins New Zealand's Jane Campion and France's Julia Ducournau as only the third woman to have won the competition that this year included a record seven female directors.