The 9th Cannes Film Fest was held April 10-24, 1956.
The Palme d’Or went to a documentary, The Silent World, by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle.
The festival opened with Marie-Antoinette reine de France, directed by Jean Delannoy and closed with Il tetto by Vittorio De Sica
Jury Members
- Maurice Lehmann (France) (president)
- Arletty (France)
- Louise de Vilmorin (France)
- Jacques-Pierre Frogerais (France)
- Henri Jeanson (France)
- Domenico Meccoli (Italy)
- Otto Preminger (USA)
- James Quinn (UK)
- Roger Regent (France)
- María Romero (Chile)
- Sergei Vasilyev (Soviet Union)
- Francis Bolen (Belgium) (short films)
- Antonin Brousil (Czechoslovakia) (short films)
- Henri Fabiani (France) (short films)
- Paul Grimault (France) (short films)
- Jean Perdrix (France) (short films)
Feature film competition
- Afacerea Protar by Haralambie Boros
- Cien by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
- Dalibor by Václav Krška
- La escondida by Roberto Gavaldón
- Il ferroviere by Pietro Germi
- Gli innamorati by Mauro Bolognini
- Hanka by Slavko Vorkapić
- The Harder They Fall by Mark Robson (US)
- Ikimono no kiroku by Akira Kurosawa
- I’ll Cry Tomorrow by Daniel Mann
- Körhinta by Zoltán Fábri
- To Koritsi me ta mavra by Michael Cacoyannis
- Maboroshi no uma by Koji Shima
- The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Nunnally Johnson (US)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much by Alfred Hitchcock
- The Man Who Never Was by Ronald Neame
- Marie-Antoinette reine de France by Jean Delannoy
- Meeuwen sterven in de haven by Roland Verhavert, Ivo Michiels and Rik Kuypers
- Mat by Mark Donskoi
- Le Monde du silence by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
- Mozart by Karl Hartl
- Le mystère Picasso by Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Othello by Sergei Yutkevich
- Pather Panchaliby Satyajit Ray
- Pedagogicheskaya poema by Aleksei Maslyuko and Mechislava Mayevskaya
- Seido no Kirisuto by Minoru Shibuya
- Seven Years in Tibet by Hans Nieter
- Shabab emraa by Salah Abu Seif
- Shevagyachya Shenga by Shantaram Athavale
- Sob o Céu da Bahia by Ernesto Remani
- Sommarnattens leende by Ingmar Bergman
- Talpa by Alfredo B. Crevenna
- Tarde de toros by Ladislao Vajda
- Il tetto by Vittorio De Sica
- Tochka parva by Boyan Danovski
- Toubib el affia by Henry Jacques
- El Último perro by Lucas Demare
- Walk Into Paradise by Lee Robinson
- Yield to the Night by J. Lee Thompson
Awards
Palme d’Or: The Silent World by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
Jury Special Prize: The Mystery of Picasso by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Best Acting Award: Susan Hayward for I’ll Cry Tomorrow
Best Director: Sergei Yutkevich for Othello
Best Human Document: Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray
Best Poetic Humor: Smiles of a Summer Night by Ingmar Bergman
Short Film Palme d’Or: The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse
Special Mention – Investigative Documentary – Short Film: Together by Lorenza Mazzetti
Best Fiction Film – Short: Magdana’s Donkey by Tengiz Abuladze and Rezo Chkheidze
OCIC Award: The Roof by Vittorio De Sica
OCIC Award – Special Mention:
- The Railroad Man by Pietro Germi
- The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Nunnally Johnson
- Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray
