May 25, 2003
Gus Van Sant Wins Palme d'Or Award for Film Shot in North Portland
Oregon director Gus Van Sant has won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival:
The director, who grew up in Oregon, cast real high school students, not professional actors, to star in the film, which was shot in North Portland. The actors were asked them [sic] to improvise their lines. The movie starts out showing an ordinary day at school that turns to tragedy when two students go on a shooting spree in the hallways.
You can find some details on the film, Elephant, via the Internet Movie Database. No idea if the movie is any good, but it is interesting that this is a year after Cannes was buzzing about Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, another movie about violence in America.
More here from The Washington Post.