French director Julia Ducournau has become only the second woman in history to win the top award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Ducournau, 37, was awarded the Palme d'Or prize for the film Titane, a wildly imaginative movie about a serial killer.

However, in a moment of confusion, when asked in French to reveal who had won the award for best actress, U.S. film director Spike Lee accidentally announced the best movie winner.

"No excuses, I messed up. I'm a big sports fan, it's like the guy at the end of the game at the foul line, he misses a free throw, or the guy misses a kick," Lee said after the event.

Ducournau's violent film follows the journey of a young woman played by Agethe Rousselle, who is almost killed in a car crash as a child. She survived her injuries but is forced to have a titanium plate in her head.

The heroine has sex with cars and kills men with hair pins.

While on the run from the murders she committed, she meets a firefighter played by Vincent Lindon and they both believe they can help each other with their problems.

The film has split critics, with some praising its originality but others put off by its frantic and messy approach.

Other winners

French filmmaker Leos Carax was awarded best director for Annette, a musical about two artists caught in a twisted love affair, while Japanese duo Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamusa Oe won best screenplay for their roles in the drama Drive My Car.

Renate Reinsve took home the prize of best actress for her role in the romantic comedy film The Worst Person In The World. Caleb Landry Jones, who starred in Australian film Nitram, won best actor.

The Jury Prize, another runner-up award for best movie, went to two films: Ahed's Knee by Israel's Nadav Lapid and Memoria by Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul.