The 29th Cannes Film Fest was held on May 13-28, 1976.
The Palme d’Or went to Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese.
A new section, ‘L’Air du temps’, which was non-competitive and focused on contemporary subjects, was introduced but discontinued after the next edition.
The festival opened with the documentary That’s Entertainment, Part II, directed by Gene Kelly.
It closed with Family Plot, directed by Hitchcock (his last film).
Jury Members
Tennessee Williams (USA) (jury president)
- Jean Carzou (France) (artist)
- Mario Cecchi Gori (Italy)
- Costa Gavras (France)
- András Kovács (Hungary)
- Lorenzo López Sancho (Spain) (journalist)
- Charlotte Rampling (UK)
- Georges Schehadé (Lebanon) (author)
- Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
Feature film competition
- Actas de Marusi by Miguel Littín
- Babatu by Jean Rouch
- Brutti, sporchi e cattivi by Ettore Scola
- Bugsy Malone by Alan Parker
- Cría cuervos by Carlos Saura
- Die Marquise von O… by Éric Rohmer
- Déryné hol van? by Gyula Maár
- Im Lauf der Zeit by Wim Wenders
- L’eredità Ferramonti by Mauro Bolognini
- La griffe et la dent by François Bel
- Le Locataire by Roman Polanski
- Mr. Klein by Joseph Losey
- Next Stop, Greenwich Village by Paul Mazursky (US)
- Nishaant by Shyam Benegal
- Pascual Duarte by Ricardo Franco
- Schatten der Engel by Daniel Schmid
- Sweet Revenge (Dandy, the All American Girl) by Jerry Schatzberg
- Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese
- Un enfant dans la foule by Gérard Blain
- Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù by Miklós Jancsó
Films out of competition
- A Delicate Balance by Tony Richardson
- Anna by Alberto Grifi, Massimo Sarchielli
- Appunti per un’Orestiade Africana by Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Ascension by Olivier Dassault
- Bobby by Marty Ollstein
- Cadaveri eccelenti by Francesco Rosi
- Edvard Munch by Peter Watkins
- Face to Face by Ingmar Bergman
- Family Plot by Hitchcock
- Grey Gardens by David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
- Heddaby Trevor Nunn
- Hollywood… Hollywood! by Gene Kelly
- L’amour blessé by Jean Pierre Lefebvre
- La Pharmacie-Shangaï by Joris Ivens, Marceline Loridan
- Labirintus by András Kovács
- Le pont de singe by André Harris, Alain De Sedouy
- Les enfants des autres by Martin Pierlot
- Novecento (1900) by Bernardo Bertolucci
- Orlando furioso by Luca Ronconi
- Sartre par lui-même by Alexandre Astruc, Michel Contat
- Sommergaste by Peter Stein
- The California Reich by Walter F. Parkes, Keith F. Critchlow
- The Iceman Cometh by John Frankenheimer
- The Memory of Justice by Marcel Ophüls
- Train-Landscape by Jules Engel
Awards
- Palme d’Or: Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese
- Grand Prix:
- Cría cuervos by Carlos Saura
- Die Marquise von O…by Éric Rohmer
- Best Actor: José Luis Gómez for Pascual Duarte
- Best Actress: Tie
- Dominique Sanda for L’eredità Ferramonti
- Mari Törőcsik for Déryné hol van?
- Best Director: Ettore Scola for Brutti, sporchi e cattivi
- Short Film Palme d’Or: Metamorphosis by Barry Greenwald
- Jury Prize – Best Short Film:
- Agulana by Gérald Frydman
- Nightlife by Robin Lehman
- Technical Grand Prize: Michel Fano (sound) for La Griffe et la dent
- FIPRESCI Prize:
- Parallel Section: Der starke Ferdinand by Alexander Kluge
- Competition: Kings of the Road by Wim Wenders (Unanimously)
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Not awarded