Film director Spike Lee gave the Cannes Film Festival a closing night to remember when he inadvertently announced the event’s big winner a little too early.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker was the jury president at this year’s festival, so when the big awards were being dished out on Saturday night, it fell to him to reveal the first award of the night.

Unfortunately, due to a mix-up, he ended up revealing the Palme D’Or winner – the top prize of the festival, which was supposed to be announced at the very end of the night – at the beginning of the proceedings.

As the ceremony got underway, he was called on by the host to announce “the first prize”.

However, he misinterpreted what she meant, and declared: “Yes, I can. The film that won the Palme D’Or is Titane.”

The Cannes host interjected, urging him to “wait, wait, wait”, but it was too late, with the surreal horror-thriller Titane having already been prematurely announced as the top winner of the festival.

Organisers did their best to sweep the faux pas under the carpet, with Spike eventually returning to the stage with Sharon Stone at the end of the night to welcome Titane director Julia Ducournau to the stage.

“She’s not gonna mess this up,” Spike joked of his co-presenter before they announced the winner (for the second time).

Titane is the latest film made by director Julia Ducournau, who has become the second woman in history to receive the prestigious honour of the Palme D’Or.

The film has so far received mixed reviews from journalists who watched it at Cannes, thanks to its graphic content, unpredictable twists and turns and surreal cinematography.