The 52nd Cannes Film Fest was held May 12–23, 1999.
The Palme d’Or went to the Belgian film Rosetta, by the brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
The festival opened with a very weak film, Mikhalkov’s The Barber of Siberia.
It closed with An Ideal Husband, directed by Oliver Parker.
JURY MEMBERS
David Cronenberg (Canada) (jury president)
- André Téchiné (France)
- Barbara Hendricks (Sweden)
- Dominique Blanc (France)
- Doris Dörrie (Germany)
- George Miller (Australia)
- Holly Hunter (US)
- Jeff Goldblum (US)
- Maurizio Nichetti (Italy)
- Yasmina Reza (France)
Feature film competition
- 8½ Women by Peter Greenaway
- Cradle Will Rock by Tim Robbins
- El coronel no tiene quien le escriba by Arturo Ripstein
- Felicia’s Journey by Atom Egoyan
- Ghessé hayé kish by Abolfazl Jalili, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Nasser Taghvai
- Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai by Jim Jarmusch
- Jing Ke ci Qin Wang by Chen Kaige
- Kadosh by Amos Gitai
- Kikujirô no natsu by Takeshi Kitano
- L’humanité by Bruno Dumont
- La balia by Marco Bellocchio
- La letter by Manoel de Oliveira
- Le temps retrouvé, d’après l’oeuvre de Marcel Proust by Raúl Ruiz
- Limbo by John Sayles
- Molokh by Alexander Sokurov
- Nos vies heureuses by Jacques Maillot
- Pola X by Leos Carax
- Rosetta by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
- The Straight Story by David Lynch
- Tin seung yan gaan by Nelson Yu Lik-wai
- Todo sobre mi madre by Pedro Almodóvar
- Wonderland by Michael Winterbottom
Un Certain Regard
Vanaprastham by Shaji N. Karun
- As Bodas de Deus by João César Monteiro
- Away with Words by Christopher Doyle
- Beautiful People by Jasmin Dizdar
- Beresina oder Die letzten Tage der Schweiz by Daniel Schmid
- Kaizokuban Bootleg Film by Masahiro Kobayashi
- L’autre by Youssef Chahine
- Garage Olimpo by Marco Bechis
- Harem Suare by Ferzan Özpetek
- If I Give You my Humbleness, Don’t Take Away my Pride by Karin Westerlund
- Judy Berlin by Eric Mendelsohn
- La genèse by Cheick Oumar Sissoko Les passagers by Jean-Claude Guiguet
- Marana Simhasanam by Murali Nair
- Nadia et les hippopotames by Dominique Cabrera
- Peau neuve by Émilie Deleuze
- Ratcatcher by Lynne Ramsay
- Sicilia! by Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
- So Close to Paradise by Wang Xiaoshuai
- Zheng hun qi shi by Chen Kuo-Fu
- The Shade by Raphael Nadjari
- The Winslow Boy by David Mamet
- Tian ma cha fang by Lin Chen-Sheng
Films out of competition
- Adieu, plancher des vaches! by Otar Iosseliani
- An Ideal Husband by Oliver Parker
- Dogma by Kevin Smith
- EDtv by Ron Howard
- Entrapment by Jon Amiel
- Mein liebster Feind by Werner Herzog
- The Barber of Siberia by Nikita Mikhalkov
- The Limey by Steven Soderbergh
Awards
- Palme d’Or: Rosetta by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
- Grand Prize of the Jury: L’humanite by Bruno Dumont
- Jury Prize: La lettre by Manoel de Oliveira
- Best Actor: Emmanuel Schotté for L’humanité
- Best Actress: Tie
- Séverine Caneele for L’humanité
- Émilie Dequenne for Rosetta
- Best Director: Pedro Almodóvar for Todo sobre mi madre
- Short Film Palme d’Or: When the Day Breaks by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis
- Best Screenplay: Molokh by Juri Arabov
- Technical Grand Prize: Tin seung yan gaan by Juhua Tu
- Caméra d’Or: Marana Simhasanam by Murali Nair
- Cinéfondation Award:
- Second Hand by Emily Young
- Im Hukim by Dover Koshashvili
- La puce by Emmanuelle Bercot
- Cinefondation Award – Special Mention: Inter-View by Jessica Hausner
- Un Certain Regard Award: Beautiful People by Jasmin Dizdar
- Mercedes-Benz Award: Flores de otro mundo by Icíar Bollaín
- Canal+ Award: Shoes Off! by Mark Sawers
- Kodak Short Film Award: Un petit air de fête by Eric Guirado
- Kodak Short Film Award – Special Mention Ô trouble by Sylvia Calle
- Grand Golden Rail: Siam Sunset by John Polson
- C.I.C.A.E. Award: Qui plume la lune? by Christine Carrière
- Gras Savoye Award: Un château en Espagne by Delphine Gleize
- FIPRESCI Prize:
- Peau neuve by Émilie Deleuze (Competition)
- M/Other by Nobuhiro Suwa (Parallel Sections)
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Todo sobre mi madre by Pedro Almodóvar
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention: Rosetta by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
- France Culture Award: Jean-Claude Biette (for his whole work)
- Award of the Youth:
- Foreign Film: The Blair Witch Project by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
- French Film: Voyages by Emmanuel Finkiel
- François Chalais Award: L’autre by Youssef Chahine