Cannes Film Fest: Palme d’Or–History of Turbulent
The Palme d’Or is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry.
Presented by Festival International du Film de Cannes, it was
first awarded 1955
Currently held by French feminist film, Titane (2021) and the English-speaking debut of Ruben Oustland, Triangle of Sadness (2022).
The Palme d’Or (English: Golden Palm) is the highest prize at the Cannes Film Fest.
It was introduced in 1955 by the festival’s organizing committee.
Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival’s highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film.
In 1964, The Palme d’Or was replaced again by the Grand Prix, before being reintroduced in 1975.
In 1954, the festival presented an award annually, titled the Grand Prix of the International Film Festival, with new design each year from 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, who took inspiration in a sketch done 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 the US film, Marty.
From 1964 to 1974, the festival temporarily resumed a Grand Prix.
In 1975, the Palme d’Or was reintroduced and has since remained the symbol of the Cannes Film Fest, awarded every year to the director of the winning film.
It has been presented in a case of pure red Morocco leather lined with white suede.
Only Two Women Winners
As of 2021, Jane Campion and Julia Ducournau are the only female directors to have won the Palme d’Or, for their work on The Piano and Titane, respectively.
Multiple Palm d’Or
However, in 2013, when Blue Is the Warmest Color won the Palme d’Or, the Spielberg-headed jury awarded it to the film’s director Abdellatif Kechiche, as well as the film’s actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. This marks the first time that multiple Palme d’Or trophies were given out in the festival’s history.
The jury decided to award the actresses alongside the director due to a Cannes policy that forbids the Palme d’Or-winning film from receiving any additional awards, thereby preventing the jury from rewarding both the film and the film’s actresses separately. Of the unorthodox decision, Spielberg said that “had the casting been 3% wrong, it wouldn’t have worked like it did for us.”
Kechiche later auctioned off his Palme d’Or trophy to fund his new feature film. He also expressed dissatisfaction about the festival having given out 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.”
At the beginning of the 1980s, the rounded shape of the pedestal, bearing the palm, 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 and since then, has been manufactured by Swiss jewellery Chopard. The palm is made from 4.16 oz (118 g) of 18-carat yellow gold while the base of the branch forms a small heart. The Palme d’or rests on a dainty rock crystal cushion shaped like an emerald-cut diamond.
A single piece of cut crystal forms a cushion for the palm, which was 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 we now know it today for his film Eternity and a Day.
The winner of the 2014 Palme d’Or, Winter Sleep—a Turkish film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan—occurred during the same year as the 100th anniversary of Turkish cinema.
Upon receiving the award, Ceylan dedicated the prize to the “young people” involved in the ongoing political unrest in Turkey and the workers who were killed in the Soma mine disaster, which occurred on the day prior to the commencement of the awards event.
In 2017, the award was re-designed to celebrate the festival’s 70th anniversary. The diamonds were provided by an ethical supplier certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council.
The 2020 Cannes Film Fest was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were given this year.
Winners
1939: Union Pacific Cecil B. DeMille United States
1940–1945 No festival due to World War II.
1946
Brief Encounter, David Lean United Kingdom
The Last Chance (Die Letzte Chance) Leopold Lindtberg, Swiss
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 Великий перелом Fridrikh Ermler Soviet Union[
1947
Antoine and Antoinette (Best Psychological & Love Film) Antoine et Antoinette 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
The Third Man Carol Reed United Kingdom
1950
No festival due to budgetary problems.
1951
Miracle in Milan # Miracolo a Milano Vittorio De Sica Italy
Miss Julie # Fröken Julie Alf Sjöberg Sweden
1952
Othello # Orson Welles Morocco[
Two Cents Worth of Hope # Due soldi di speranza Renato Castellani Italy
1953
The Wages of Fear Le salaire de la peur Henri-Georges Clouzot France
1954 Gate of Hell 地獄門 Teinosuke Kinugasa Japan
Awarded as “Palme d’Or”
1955 Marty § Delbert Mann United States[40]
1956 The Silent World (Le monde du silence), Jacques Cousteau & Louis Malle France
1957 Friendly Persuasion William Wyler, US
1958 The Cranes Are Flying Летят журавли Mikhail Kalatozov Soviet Union
1959 Black Orpheus § Orfeu Negro Marcel Camus France
1960
La Dolce Vita § Federico Fellini Italy
1961
The Long Absence # § Une aussi longue absence Henri Colpi France
Viridiana # § Luis Buñuel Spain
1962
O Pagador de Promessas § Anselmo Duarte Brazil
1963 The Leopard § Il gattopardo Luchino Visconti Italy
Awarded as “Grand Prix du Festival International du Film”
1964 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Les parapluies de Cherbourg Jacques Demy France
1965
The Knack …and How to Get It Richard Lester UK
1966
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians # Signore e signori Pietro Germi Italy
A Man and a Woman # Un homme et une femme Claude Lelouch France
1967 Blowup Michelangelo Antonioni UK
1968
No award because the festival was cancelled midway to show solidarity with the students and workers demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement.
1969
If…. Lindsay Anderson United Kingdom[55]
1970
MASH Robert Altman, US
1971
The Go-Between Joseph Losey, UK
1972
The Mattei Affair # § Il caso Mattei Francesco Rosi Italy
The Working Class Goes to Heaven # § La classe operaia va in paradiso Elio Petri Italy
1973: Tie
The Hireling # Alan Bridges UK
Scarecrow # Jerry Schatzberg US
1974
The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola US (Awarded as “Palme d’Or”)
1975:
Chronicle of the Years of Fire Chronique des années de braise Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algeria
1976
Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese US
1977:
Padre Padrone Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Italy
1978:
The Tree of Wooden Clogs § L’albero degli zoccoli Ermanno Olmi Italy
1979: Tie
Apocalypse Now # Francis Ford Coppola US
The Tin Drum # Die Blechtrommel Volker Schlöndorff, West Germany
1980s
1980: Tie
All That Jazz # Bob Fosse, US
Kagemusha # 影武者 Akira Kurosawa Japan
1981 Man of Iron Człowiek z żelaza Andrzej Wajda, Poland
1982
Missing # § Costa-Gavras, US
Yol # § Yılmaz Güney & Şerif Gören Turkey
1983
The Ballad of Narayama 楢山節考 Shohei Imamura Japan
1984 Paris, Texas § Wim Wenders West Germany, France
1985 When Father Was Away on Business § Отац на службеном путу Emir Kusturica Yugoslavia
1986 The Mission Roland Joffé United Kingdom[76]
1987 Under the Sun of Satan § Sous le soleil de Satan Maurice Pialat France
1988:
Pelle the Conqueror Pelle Erobreren Bille August Denmark
1989 Sex, Lies, and Videotape Steven Soderbergh US
1990s
1990 Wild at Heart David Lynch US
1991:
Barton Fink § Joel Coen United States
1992
The Best Intentions Den goda viljan Bille August Denmark, Sweden
1993: Tie
Farewell My Concubine # 霸王別姬 Chen Kaige Hong Kong
The Piano # Jane Campion New Zealand, Australia, France
1994:
Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino United States[85]
1995:
Underground Подземље, Emir Kusturica, France
1996 Secrets & Lies Mike Leigh France, UK
1997: Tie
The Eel # うなぎ Shohei Imamura Japan
Taste of Cherry # طعم گيلاس Abbas Kiarostami Iran
1998 Eternity and a Day, Theo Angelopoulos, Greece
1999 Rosetta § Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France
2000s
2000:
Dancer in the Dark Lars von Trier Denmark
2001: The Son’s Room, La stanza del figlio Nanni Moretti Italy, France
2002 The Pianist Roman Polanski Poland, France, Germany, United Kingdom[93]
2003 Elephant Gus Van Sant US
2004:
Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore, US
2005:
L’Enfant Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne Belgium, France
2006: The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Ken Loach, Ireland, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain
2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 4 luni, 3 săptămâni și 2 zile Cristian Mungiu Romania
2008 The Class, Entre les murs, Laurent Cantet, France
2009:
The White Ribbon Das weiße Band, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte, Michael Haneke Germany, Austria, France, Italy
2010s
2010: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, UK, Thailand, France, Germany, Spain
2011: The Tree of Life Terrence Malick, US
2012 Amour Michael Haneke France, Germany, Austria[103]
2013:
Blue Is the Warmest Colour § La Vie d’Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2 Abdellatif Kechiche, France, Belgium, Spain
2014:
Winter Sleep Kış Uykusu Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkey, France, Germany
2015:
Dheepan Jacques Audiard France
2016:
I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, UK
2017:
The Square, Ruben Östlund, Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark
2018:
Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan
2019:
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho, South Korea
2020s
2020
No festival, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021:
Titane, Julia Ducournau, France, Belgium
2022:
Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund, Sweden
——————–
The Palme d’Or for Union Pacific was awarded in retrospect at the 2002 festival.
The festival’s debut was to take place in 1939, but it was cancelled due to World War II.
The organizers of the 2002 festival presented part of the original 1939 selection to a professional jury of six members.
The films were:
Boefje, The Four Feathers, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Lenin in 1918, La Loi du Nord, Union Pacific & The Wizard of Oz.
Multiple Winners
Nine directors or co-directors have won the award twice:
Sweden: Alf Sjöberg (1946 & 1951)
US: Francis Ford Coppola (1974 & 1979)
Denmark: Bille August (1988 & 1992)
Japan: Shohei Imamura (1983 & 1997)
Belgium: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (1999 & 2005)
Austria: Michael Haneke (2009 & 2012)
UK: Ken Loach (2006 & 2016)
Sweden: Ruben Östlund (2017 & 2022)
Honorary Palme d’Or
In 1997, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Festival, the Cannes jury awarded a “Palme des Palmes” for the first time.
1997 Ingmar Bergman: Director/Screenwriter Sweden
In 2002, the festival began to sporadically award non-competitive Honorary Palme d’Or to directors or actors who had achieved a notable body of work but who had never won competitive Palme d’Or.
2002: Woody Allen 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 US
2011: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Actor France; Bernardo Bertolucci, Director-Screenwriter Italy
2015 Agnès Varda, Director/Screenwriter France
2016 Jean-Pierre Léaud, Actor France
2017 Jeffrey Katzenberg, Producer US
2019 Alain Delon, Actor France
2021 Marco Bellocchio[129] Director/Screenwriter Italy
Jodie Foster, Actress/Director US
——————
In 2018, the Cannes jury also awarded “Special Palme d’Or” for the first time.
2018:
The Image Book, Le Livre d’image, Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland
