The 31st Cannes Film Fest was held on May 16-30.
The Palme d’Or went to the Italian film, L’albero degli zoccoli, by Ermanno Olmi.
This edition introduced a new non-competitive section, Un Certain Regard, which replaced ‘Les Yeux Fertiles’ (1975-1977), ‘L’Air du temps’ and ‘Le Passé compose.
The festival opened with Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver, directed by Emil Loteanu.
It closed with Fedora, directed by Billy Wilder.
Jury Members
Alan J. Pakula (USA) (jury president)
- Franco Brusat (Italy)
- François Chalais (France)
- Michel Ciment (France)
- Claude Goretta (Switzerland)
- Andrei Konchalovsky (Soviet Union)
- Harry Saltzman (USA)
- Liv Ullmann (Norway)
- Georges Wakhévitch (France)
Feature film competition
- Ai no Bōrei by Nagisa Oshima
- An Unmarried Woman by Paul Mazursky
- Bravo maestro by Rajko Grlić
- Ciao maschio by Marco Ferreri
- Coming Home by Hal Ashby (US)
- Despair by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Die linkshändige Frau by Peter Handke
- Ecce bombo by Nanni Moretti
- Egy erkölcsös éjszaka by Károly Makk
- El recurso del método by Miguel Littín
- Kravgi gynaikon by Jules Dassin
- L’albero degli zoccoli by Ermanno Olmi
- Los ojos vendados by Carlos Saura
- Los restos del naufragio by Ricardo Franco
- Midnight Express by Alan Parker
- Molière by Ariane Mnouchkine
- Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver by Emil Loteanu
- Pretty Baby by Louis Malle (US)
- Spirala by Krzysztof Zanussi
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Fred Schepisi
- The Shout by Jerzy Skolimowski
- Violette Nozière by Claude Chabrol
- Who’ll Stop the Rain by Karel Reisz (US)
Un Certain Regard
- Aika hyvä ihmiseksi by Rauni Mollberg
- Alyam, alyam by Ahmed El Maanouni
- Coronel Delmiro Gouveia by Geraldo Sarno
- Człowiek z marmuru by Andrzej Wajda
- Die Rückkehr des alten Herrn by Vojtěch Jasný
- Grand hôtel des palmes by Memè Perlini
- Hitler – ein Film aus Deutschland by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
- Koko, le gorille qui parle by Barbet Schroeder
- Le dossier 51 by Michel Deville
- Nahapet by Henrik Malyan
- Ocaña, retrat intermittent by Ventura Pons
- The New Klan: Heritage of Hate by Leslie Shatz, Eleanor Bingham
- Un balcon en forêt by Michel Mitrani
Films out of competition
- Dawn Of The Dead by George A. Romero
- Fedora by Billy Wilder
- The Last Waltz by Martin Scorsese
Awards
.Palme d’Or: L’albero degli zoccoli by Ermanno Olmi
- Grand Prix:
- Ciao maschio by Marco Ferreri
- The Shout by Jerzy Skolimowski
- Best Actor: Jon Voight for Coming Home
- Best Actress: Tie
- Jill Clayburgh for An Unmarried Woman
- Isabelle Huppert for Violette Nozière
- Best Director: Nagisa Oshimafor Ai no Bōrei
- Technical Grand Prize: Pretty Baby by Louis Malle
- Golden Camera: Alambrista! by Robert M. Young
- Short Film Palme d’Or: La Traversée de l’Atlantique à la rame by Jean-François Laguionie
- Jury Prize – Best Short Film:
- A Doonesbury Special by John Hubley, Faith Hubley and Garry Trudeau
- Oh My Darling by Børge Ring
- FIPRESCI Prize:
- Man of Marble by Andrzej Wajda (Unanimously)
- Fragrance of Wild Flowers by Srdjan Karanovic
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury:
- L’albero degli zoccoli by Ermanno Olmi
- Spirala by Krzysztof Zanussi