New Book about Cannes Film Fest at 80! (Out in May 2027)
The Palme d’Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival.
Official poster of 76th Cannes Film Fest
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It was introduced in 1955 by the festival’s organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film.
My Oscar Book:
In 1964, The Palme d’Or was replaced again by the Grand Prix, before being reintroduced in 1975.
The Palme d’Or is considered one of the film industry’s most prestigious awards.
In 1954, the festival decided to present an award annually, titled the Grand Prix of the International Film Festival, with new design each year by contemporary artist.
The festival’s board of directors invited several jewelers to submit designs for a palm, in tribute to the coat of arms of the city of Cannes, evoking the famous legend of Saint Honorat and the palm trees lining the famous Promenade de la Croisette.
The original design by Parisian jeweler Lucienne Lazon, inspired by sketch by director Jean Cocteau, had the beveled lower extremity of the stalk forming a heart, and the pedestal a sculpture in terracotta by the artist Sébastien.
In 1955, the first Palme d’Or was awarded to Delbert Mann for his film Marty.
From 1964 to 1974, the festival temporarily resumed Grand Prix.
In 1975, the Palme d’Or was reintroduced and has since remained the festival’s symbol, awarded each year to the director of the winning film.
It’s presented in a case of pure red Morocco leather lined with white suede.
In 97 years, only three women
As of 2025, Jane Campion, Julia Ducournau, and Justine Triet are the only female directors to win the Palme d’Or (for The Piano, Titane, and Anatomy of a Fall, respectively).
In 2013, when Blue Is the Warmest Color won the Palme d’Or, the Spielberg-headed jury awarded it to the film’s actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux as well as director Abdellatif Kechiche, the only time multiple Palme d’Or trophies have been awarded.
The jury decided to present it to the actresses as well due to a Cannes policy forbidding the Palme d’Or-winning film from receiving any additional awards, which would have prevented the jury from recognizing the actresses separately. Of the unorthodox decision, Spielberg said, “Had the casting been 3% wrong, the film wouldn’t have worked like it did for us.”
Kechiche later auctioned off his Palme d’Or trophy to fund his new feature film, and expressed dissatisfaction that the festival had awarded multiple trophies. He felt they had “publicly insulted” him by doing it, and that “liberating myself from this Palme d’Or is a way of washing my hands of this sorry affair.”
Since its reintroduction, the prize has been redesigned several times. At the beginning of the 1980s, the rounded shape of the pedestal, bearing the palm has gradually transformed to become pyramidal in 1984.
In 1992, Thierry de Bourqueney redesigned the Palme and its pedestal in hand-cut crystal.
In 1997, Caroline Scheufele redesigned the statuette; since then, it has been manufactured by the Swiss jeweler firm Chopard. The palm is made from 4.16 oz (118 g) of 18-carat yellow gold while the branch’s base forms a small heart. The Palme d’or rests on a dainty crystal cushion shaped like an emerald-cut diamond. A single piece of cut crystal forms a cushion for the palm, which is hand-cast into a wax mold and now presented in a case of blue Morocco leather.
In 1998, Theo Angelopoulos was the first director to win the Palme d’or as it appears today, for Eternity and a Day.
The presentation of the 2014 Palme d’Or to Winter Sleep, a Turkish film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, occurred during the 100th anniversary year of Turkish cinema. Ceylan dedicated it to the “young people” involved in Turkey’s ongoing political unrest, and the workers killed in the Soma mine disaster, which happened the day before the awards event.
In 2017, the award was redesigned to celebrate the festival’s 70th anniversary. The diamonds were provided by ethical supplier certified by the Responsible Jewlery Council.
The 2020 Cannes Film Fest was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections, but no awards were presented.
Top Winners
1939–1945: The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was planned to be held in 1939, but it was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
The festival was not inaugurated until after the war.
Sixty-three years later, the 2002 festival assembled a jury of six members, including Dieter Kosslick and Alberto Barbera, to watch 7 of the 12 features which had been entered into the 1939 competition: Goodbye, Mr. Chips, La Loi du Nord, Lenin in 1918, The Four Feathers, The Wizard of Oz, Union Pacific, and Boefje.
Union Pacific by Cecil B. DeMille was retrospectively voted the winner of the 1939 Palme d’Or, awarded as “Grand Prix du Festival International du Film”
1946 (1st)
Brief Encounter David Lean UK
The Last Chance, Leopold Lindtberg Switzerland
The Lost Weekend Billy Wilder US
María Candelaria Emilio Fernández Mexico
Men Without Wings, František Čáp Czechoslovakia
Neecha Nagar Chetan Anand India
Pastoral Symphony La symphonie pastorale, Jean Delannoy France
The Red Meadows, Bodil Ipsen & Lau Lauritzen, Jr. Denmark
Rome, Open City Roma, città aperta Roberto Rossellini Italy
Torment Hets Alf Sjöberg, Sweden
The Turning Point, Fridrikh Ermler Soviet Union, Awarded as “Grand Prix”
1947 (2nd)
Antoine and Antoinette (Best Psychological & Love Film) Jacques Becker, France
Crossfire (Best Social Film) Edward Dmytryk US
The Damned (Best Adventure & Crime Film) Les Maudits René Clément France
Dumbo (Best Animation Design) Ben Sharpsteen US
Ziegfeld Follies (Best Musical Comedy) Vincente Minnelli, US
1948
No festival due to budgetary problems
1949 (3rd)
The Third Man, Carol Reed, UK
1950
No festival due to budget problems
1951 (4th)
Miracle in Milan # Miracolo a Milano Vittorio De Sica Italy
Miss Julie # Fröken Julie Alf Sjöberg Sweden
1952 (5th)
Othello # Orson Welles Morocco
Two Cents Worth of Hope # Due soldi di speranza Renato Castellani Italy
1953 (6th)
The Wages of Fear Le salaire de la peur, Henri-Georges Clouzot, France
1954 (7th)
Gate of Hell, Teinosuke Kinugasa Japan, Awarded as “Palme d’Or”
1955 (8th)
Marty, Delbert Mann, US
1956 (9th)
The Silent World, Le monde du silence, Jacques Cousteau & Louis Malle France
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1957 (10th)
Friendly Persuasion, William Wyler, US
1958 (11th)
The Cranes Are Flying, Mikhail Kalatozov, Soviet Union
1959 (12th)
Black Orpheus § Orfeu Negro Marcel Camus France
1960 (13th)
La Dolce Vita § Federico Fellini Italy
1961 (14th)
The Long Absence, Henri Colpi France
Viridiana # § Luis Buñuel Spain
1962 (15th)
O Pagador de Promessas, Anselmo Duarte, Brazil
1963 (16th)
The Leopard, Luchino Visconti, Italy
Awarded as “Grand Prix du Festival International du Film”
1964 (17th)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Jacques Demy France
1965 (18th)
The Knack …and How to Get It Richard Lester United Kingdom[51]
1966 (19th): Tie
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians, Pietro Germi, Italy
A Man and a Woman # Un homme et une femme Claude Lelouch France[53]
1967 (20th)
Blowup Michelangelo Antonioni,UK
1968 (21st)
No awardl the festival was cancelled midway to show solidarity with the students and workers demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement.
1969 (22nd)
If…. Lindsay Anderson UK
1970 (23rd)
MASH Robert Altman US
1971 (24th)
The Go-Between, Joseph Losey, UK
1972 (25th): Tie
The Mattei Affair, Francesco Rosi, Italy
The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Elio Petri, Italy
1973 (26th): Tie
The Hireling, Alan Bridges UK
Scarecrow, Jerry Schatzberg US
1974 (27th)
The Conversation, Francis F. Coppola, US, “Palme d’Or”
1975 (28th)
Chronicle of the Years of Fire, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algeria
1976 (29th)
Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese, US
1977 (30th)
Padre Padrone Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy
1978 (31st)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Ermanno Olmi, Italy
1979 (32nd): Tie
Apocalypse Nowm, Francis F Coppola, US
The Tin Drum, Volker Schlöndorff, West Germany
1980 (33rd): Tie
All That Jazz # Bob Fosse US
Kagemusha, Akira Kurosawa Japan
1981 (34th)
Man of Iron, Andrzej Wajda Poland
1982 (35th): Tie
Missing, Costa-Gavras, US
Yol, Yılmaz Güney & Şerif Gören Turkey
1983 (36th)
The Ballad of Narayama, Shohei Imamura, Japan
1984 (37th)
Paris, Texas § Wim Wenders West Germany, France
1985 (38th)
When Father Was Away on Business § Emir Kusturica Yugoslavia
1986 (39th)
The Mission Roland Joffé, UK
1987 (40th)
Under the Sun of Satan, Maurice Pialat, France
1988 (41st)
Pelle the Conqueror Pelle, Bille August, Denmark
1989 (42nd)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape Steven Soderbergh, US
1990 (43rd)
Wild at Heart, David Lynch, US
1991 (44th)
Barton Fink, Joel Coen, US
1992 (45th)
The Best Intentions, Bille August Denmark, Sweden
1993 (46th): Tie
Farewell My Concubine, Chen Kaige Hong Kong
The Piano, Jane Campion, New Zealand, Australia
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1994 (47th)
Pulp Fiction, Tarantino, US
1995 (48th)
Underground, Emir Kusturica France
1996 (49th)
Secrets & Lies Mike Leigh France, UK
1997 (50th): Tie
The Eel, Shohei Imamura Japan
Taste of Cherry, Abbas Kiarostami, Iran
1998 (51st)
Eternity and a Day, Theo Angelopoulos, Greece
1999 (52nd)
Rosetta, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France
2000 (53rd)
Dancer in the Dark, Lars von Trier, Denmark
2001 (54th)
The Son’s Room, Nanni Moretti Italy, France
2002 (55th)
The Pianist Roman Polanski Poland, France, Germany, UK
2003 (56th)
Elephant Gus Van Sant, US
2004 (57th)
Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore, US
2005 (58th)
L’Enfant Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne Belgium, France[96]
2006 (59th)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley, mKen Loach, Ireland, UK
2007 (60th)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Cristian Mungiu, Romania
2008 (61st)
The Class, Laurent Cantet, France
2009 (62nd)
The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke Germany, Austria
2010 (63rd)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand
2011 (64th)
The Tree of Life Terrence Malick, US
2012 (65th)
Amour, Michael Haneke France, Germany, Austria
2013 (66th)
Blue Is the Warmest Color, Abdellatif Kechiche, France, Belgium
2014 (67th)
Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkey, France, Germany
2015 (68th)
Dheepan, Jacques Audiard, France
2016 (69th)
I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, UK
2017 (70th)
The Square Ruben Östlund Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark
2018 (71st)
Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda,m Japan
2019 (72nd)
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho, South Korea
2020 (73rd)
Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were chosen as official selections but no awards presented.
2021 (74th)
Titane, Julia Ducournau, France, Belgium
2022 (75th)
Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund, Sweden
2023 (76th)
Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet, France
2024 (77th)
Anora, Sean Baker, US
2025 (78th)
It Was Just an Accident, Iran, Jafar Panahi
2026 (79th): ???
To be announced May 24, 2026
Multiple Winners
Nine directors have won the award twice; three of them have for consecutive films.
Alf Sjöberg (1946 & 1951)
Francis Ford Coppola (1974 & 1979)
Bille August (1988 & 1992) Consecutive films
Emir Kusturica (1985 & 1995)
Shohei Imamura (1983 & 1997)
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (1999 & 2005)
Michael Haneke (2009 & 2012), Award winner
Ken Loach (2006 & 2016)
Ruben Östlund (2017 & 2022), Award winner
Honorary Palme d’Or
In 1997, on the fest’s 50th anniversary, the Cannes jury awarded “Palme des Palmes” for the first time.
1997 Ingmar Bergman, Director/Screenwriter, Sweden
In 2002 the festival began to award a non-competitive Honorary Palme d’Or to directors or actors with notable body of work but had never won competitive Palme d’Or.
2002 Woody Allen[116] Director/Actor/Screenwriter US
2003 Jeanne Moreau, Actress France
2005 Catherine Deneuve, Actress France
2007 Jane Fonda, Actress United States
2008 Manoel de Oliveira, Director/Screenwriter Portugal
2009 Clint Eastwood, Actor/Director United States
2011 Jean-Paul Belmondo, Actor France and Bernardo Bertolucci Director/Screenwriter Italy
2015 Agnès Varda, Director/Screenwriter France
2016 Jean-Pierre Léau, Actor France
2017 Jeffrey Katzenberg, Producer US
2019 Alain Delon Actor France
2021 Marco Bellocchio, Director/Screenwriterm Italy and Jodie Foster, Actress/Director US
2022 Forest Whitaker, Actor/Producer/Director US and Tom Cruise, Actor/Producer, US
In 2018, the Cannes jury also awarded a “Special Palme d’Or” for the first time.
2018 The Image Book, Jean-Luc Godard Switzerland
