The Austrian director Michael Haneke has won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for the second time in four years.

His French-language drama Love — about an elderly couple learning to cope with the wife’s stroke — has beaten off strong competition from twenty one other films to be awarded the Palme d’Or.

He previously won with The White Ribbon in 2009.

The jury, chaired by the Italian director Nanni Moretti, awarded its second Grand Prize to an Italian satire, Matteo Garrone’s Reality.

Ken Loach — who’s also won the top honour in the past — took the third Jury Prize for his social comedy The Angel’s Share.

Another former winner, Romania’s Cristian Mungiu, won the Best Screenplay prize for Beyond the Hills, while Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas was honoured as the Best Director for Post Tenebras Lux.

Despite astounding performances from Haneke’s leads in Love, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, neither collected an acting award. The Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen won the best actor honours for The Hunt and the best actress prize was shared between the co-stars of Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills, Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan.

Another jury gave the best cinematography award to the The Hunt.