Justine Triet became the third female director to win the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival's on Saturday, beating out 20 other films in the running for the top prize.

The French director, who took home the award for courtroom drama, Anatomy of a Fall, dubbed being the third female to ever win, “surprising”, stating that it inspired hope for the future.

"We're at the dawn of deep-seated changes in this respect," she said following her win.

In her award speech, Triet took the opportunity to slam the handling of protests against pension reforms in France, and the way in which they have “been denied and repressed in a shocking way”. She continued, stating that more space was required for budding filmmakers to make mistakes and begin again.

Triet had previously earned a nomination for Sibyl in 2019, and this time, beat out veteran directors like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ken Loach and Wim Wenders- all of whom have at least one Palme d'Or to their names.

New Zealand's Jane Campion and France's Julia Ducournau are the only previous female recipients of the film festival’s award. This year also included a record seven female directors.

The award, introduced by Jane Fonda, said it would one day be normal for women to win, not historic.

"We have a long way to go,” the film icon said, “But still, we have to celebrate change when it happens."

Cannes’ second- highest prize, the Grand Prix, went to British director Jonathan Glazer's Zone of Interest. His film followed a family who lived next to Auschwitz.