Palme D'or winner "Winter Sleep" becomes the second Turkish movie to take home the top award at the Cannes Film Festival. The head of this year's jury, Jane Campion, says the film's length had her worried she might be able to sit through the movie without a bathroom break, but by the end of it she was wishing the film was hours longer.

Cannes jury head talks Palme d'Or winner 'Winter Sleep'

Turkish film "Winter Sleep", directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, is a dark and atmospheric film, examining the huge divide between rich and poor and the powerful and powerless in Turkey.

Jury head Jane Campion says the film's length - three hours and 16 minutes - seems daunted at first but created a beautiful rhythm to the story.

"It was really masterful, and for me it talked about things in that Chekhovian cycle. I see it like a Chekhov story where the characters torture each other, but very cleverly," Campion said. "So, I thought it was very sophisticated. Many great reasons why the film won, but those are my choices."

Campion, who is the only woman to have won the Palme d'Or, says the winning director's gender was never part of the equation.

"I'd just like to say straight off, it never entered our discussions the gender of the filmmaker that won. These films were on equal basis with each other. We didn't go, 'Oh my God, was this made by a woman or a man?' We were moved and responded to the film," she said.

"Winter Sleep" also won wide praise from film critics at Cannes festival. Many applauded the film as the stand-out film in a festival that was somewhat short on fireworks. French newspaper Le Monde called it "magnificent".

"Winter Sleep" becomes the second Turkish movie to take home the prestigious Palme d'Or. The other winner was "The Way" which took the prize in 1982.

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