The twenty-second Cannes Film Fest was held from May 8 to 23, 1969.
At this edition, a new significant sidebar was established, the Directors Fortnight.
The Grand Prix du Festival went to the comedy If….by Lindsay Anderson.
The festival opened with a mediocre Hollywood musical Sweet Charity, directed by Bob Fosse in his feature debut, starring Shirley MacLaine.
Jury Members
Luchino Visconti (Italy) (president)
- Chinghiz Aitmatov (Soviet Union)
- Marie Bell (France)
- Jaroslav Boček (Czechoslovakia)
- Veljko Bulajić (Yugoslavia)
- Stanley Donen (USA)
- Jerzy Glucksman (Sweden) (student)
- Robert Kanters (France) (critic)
- Sam Spiegel (USA)
Feature film competition
- Ådalen 31 by Bo Widerberg
- The Appointment by Sidney Lumet (US)
- Biće skoro propast sveta by Aleksandar Petrović
- Calcutta by Louis Malle
- Dillinger è morto by Marco Ferreri
- Don’t Let the Angels Fall by George Kaczender
- O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro (Antonio-das-mortes) by Glauber Rocha
- Easy Rider by Dennis Hopper (US)
- España otra vez by Jaime Camino
- Faráruv konec by Evald Schorm
- Flashback by Raffaele Andreassi
- Le Grand amour by Pierre Étaix
- If…. by Lindsay Anderson
- Gli intoccabili by Giuliano Montaldo
- Isadora by Karel Reisz
- Ma nuit chez Maud by Éric Rohmer
- Manden der tænkte ting by Jens Ravn
- Matzor by Gilberto Tofano
- Metti una sera a cena by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi
- Michael Kohlhaas – Der Rebell by Volker Schlöndorff
- Nihon no seishun by Masaki Kobayashi
- Polowanie na muchy by Andrzej Wajda
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Ronald Neame
- Slaves by Herbert Biberman
- Všichni dobří rodáci by Vojtěch Jasný
- Z by Costa Gavras
Films Out of Competition
- Andrei Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky
- Et L’Angleterre Sera Détruite by János Veiczi
- L’amour de la vie by François Reichenbach
- Zbehovia a pútnici by Juraj Jakubisko
- Sweet Charity by Bob Fosse
- That Cold Day in the Park by Robert Altman
Awards
- Grand Prix du Festival International du Film: If….by Lindsay Anderson
- Grand Prize of the Jury: Ådalen 31 by Bo Widerberg
- Jury Prize: Z by Costa Gavras (Unanimously)
- Best Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant for Z
- Best Actress: Vanessa Redgrave for Isadora
- Best Director: Tie
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- Glauber Rocha for O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro
- Vojtěch Jasný for Všichni dobří rodáci
- Technical Grand Prize – Special Mention:
- Cîntecele Renasterii by Mirel Ilieşiu
- Toccata by Herman van der Horst
- Všichni dobří rodáci by Vojtěch Jasný
- Short Film Palme d’Or: Cîntecele Renasterii by Mirel Ilieşiu
- Jury Prize – Best Short Film: La Pince à ongles by Jean-Claude Carrière
- Best First Work: Easy Rider by Dennis Hopper
- FIPRESCI Prize: Andrei Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky
