# 1997 Cannes Film Festival

The 50th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 18 May 1997. French actress Isabelle Adjani served as jury president for the main competition. Jeanne Moreau hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami for the drama film Taste of Cherry and to Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura for the drama film The Eel.
The festival opened with The Fifth Element by Luc Besson, and closed with Absolute Power by Clint Eastwood.

## Juries
### Main competition

* Isabelle Adjani, French actress - Jury President
* Paul Auster, American filmmaker
* Luc Bondy, Swiss director
* Tim Burton, American filmmaker
* Patrick Dupond, French dancer and artistic director
* Gong Li, Chinese actress
* Mike Leigh, British filmmaker
* Nanni Moretti, Italian filmmaker
* Michael Ondaatje, Canadian author
* Mira Sorvino, American actress

### Caméra d'Or

* Françoise Arnol, French actress - Jury President
* Luciano Barisone, Italian film critic
* Olivier Brunet-Lefebvre, French cinephile
* Julien Camy, French cinephile
* Ulrich Gregor, German cinema historian
* Gérard Lenne, French film critic
* Jiří Menzel, Czech filmmaker
* Nicolas Philibert, French filmmaker

## Official selection
### In Competition

The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:
| English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
| Assassin(s) | Assassin(s) | Mathieu Kassovitz | France |
| The Banned Woman | La femme défendue | Philippe Harel | France |
| The Brave | The Brave | Johnny Depp | United States |
| The Eel | うなぎ | Shōhei Imamura | Japan |
| The End of Violence | The End of Violence | Wim Wenders | United States |
| Funny Games | Funny Games | Michael Haneke | Austria |
| Happy Together | 春光乍洩 | Wong Kar-wai | Hong Kong |
| The Ice Storm | The Ice Storm | Ang Lee | United States |
| Kini and Adams | Kini and Adams | Idrissa Ouédraogo | Burkina Faso, France |
| L.A. Confidential | L.A. Confidential | Curtis Hanson | United States |
| Nil by Mouth | Nil by Mouth | Gary Oldman | United Kingdom, France |
| The Prince of Homburg | Il principe di Homburg | Marco Bellocchio | Italy |
| The Serpent's Kiss | The Serpent's Kiss | Philippe Rousselot | United Kingdom |
| She's So Lovely | She's So Lovely | Nick Cassavetes | United States |
| The Sweet Hereafter | The Sweet Hereafter | Atom Egoyan | Canada |
| Taste of Cherry | طعم گیلاس... | Abbas Kiarostami | Iran |
| The Truce | La tregua | Francesco Rosi | Italy |
| Welcome to Sarajevo | Welcome to Sarajevo | Michael Winterbottom | United Kingdom, United States |
| The Well | The Well | Samantha Lang | Australia |
| Western | Western | Manuel Poirier | France |

### Un Certain Regard

The following films were selected for the Un Certain Regard section:
| English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
| 12 Storeys | 十二樓 | Eric Khoo | Singapore |
| A, B, C... Manhattan | A, B, C... Manhattan | Amir Naderi | United States |
| After Sex | Post Coïtum, Animal Triste | Brigitte Roüan | France |
| American Perfekt | American Perfekt | Paul Chart | United States |
| Brother | Брат | Aleksei Balabanov | Russia |
| La cruz | La cruz | Alejandro Agresti | Argentina |
| East Palace, West Palace | 东宫西宫 | Zhang Yuan | China |
| Gudia | Gudia | Gautam Ghose | India |
| Histoire(s) du cinéma | Histoire(s) du cinéma | Jean-Luc Godard | France, Switzerland |
| The House | Namai | Šarūnas Bartas | Lithuania, France |
| In the Company of Men | In the Company of Men | Neil LaBute | United States |
| Inside/Out | Inside/Out | Rob Tregenza | United States |
| Journey on a Clock Hand | Akrebin Yolculuğu | Ömer Kavur | Turkey |
| Love and Death on Long Island | Love and Death on Long Island | Richard Kwietniowski | United Kingdom, Canada |
| Lucky Star | La buena estrella | Ricardo Franco | Spain, France, Italy |
| Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember | Marcello Mastroianni: mi ricordo, sì, io mi ricordo | Anna Maria Tatò | Italy |
| Marius and Jeannette | Marius et Jeannette | Robert Guédiguian | France |
| Mrs Brown | Mrs Brown | John Madden | United Kingdom |
| Private Confessions | Enskilda samtal | Liv Ullmann | Sweden |
| Sunday | Sunday | Jonathan Nossiter | United States |
| Wind Echoing in My Being | 내 안에 우는 바람 | Jeon Soo-il | South Korea |
| The Witman Boys | Witman fiúk | János Szász | Hungary |

### Out of Competition

The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
| English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
| Absolute Power (closing film) | Absolute Power (closing film) | Clint Eastwood | United States |
| The Blackout | The Blackout | Abel Ferrara | United States |
| Destiny | المصير | Youssef Chahine | Egypt, France |
| The Fifth Element (opening film) | Le Cinquième Élément | Luc Besson | France |
| Hamlet | Hamlet | Kenneth Branagh | United Kingdom, United States |
| Michael Jackson's Ghosts (short) | Michael Jackson's Ghosts (short) | Stan Winston | United States |
| Nirvana | Nirvana | Gabriele Salvatores | Italy |
| Voyage to the Beginning of the World | Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo | Manoel de Oliveira | France, Portugal |
| Welcome to Woop Woop | Welcome to Woop Woop | Stephan Elliott | Australia |

### Short Films Competition

The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:
* Le Bon Endroit by Ayelet Bargur
* Camera obscura by Stefano Arduino
* Final Cut by Justin Case
* ...Is It the Design on the Wrapper? (Est-ce à cause du dessin sur l'emballage?) by Tessa Sheridan
* Joe by Sasha Wolf
* Leonie by Lieven Debrauwer
* Over The Rainbow by Alexandre Aja
* Les Vacances by Emmanuelle Bercot

## Parallel sections
### International Critics' Week

The following films were screened for the 36th International Critics' Week (36e Semaine de la Critique):
Feature film competition
* Junk Mail (Budbringeren) by Pål Sletaune (Norway)
* Mother of the Dunes (Faraw !) by Abdoulaye Ascofaré (Mali)
* This World, Then the Fireworks by Michael Oblowitz (United States)
* Le Mani forti by Franco Bernini (Italy)
* Character (Karakter) by Mike van Diem (Netherlands)
* Bent by Sean Mathias (United Kingdom)
* Insomnia by Erik Skjoldbjærg (Norway)
Short film competition
* The Signalman (Le Signaleur) by Benoît Mariage (Belgium)
* Marylou by Todd Kurtzman & Danny Shorago (United States)
* Adios Mama by Ariel Gordon (Mexico)
* Tunnel of Love by Robert Milton Wallace (United Kingdom)
* Muerto de amor by Ramón Barea (Spain)
* O Prego by João Maia (Portugal)
* Le Voleur de diagonale by Jean Darrigol (France)

### Directors' Fortnight

The following films were screened for the 1997 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalizateurs):
* Buud-Yam by Gaston Kaboré
* Cosmos by André Turpin, Arto Paragamian, Denis Villeneuve, Jennifer Alleyn, Manon Briand, Marie-Julie Dallaire
* Dakan by Mohamed Camara
* Hamam by Ferzan Ozpetek
* I Hate Love (J'ai horreur de l'amour) by Laurence Ferreira Barbosa
* Kicked In The Head by Matthew Harrison
* Kissed by Lynne Stopkewich
* L'autre côté de la mer by Dominique Cabrera
* The Good Life (La buena vida) by David Trueba
* La Vie de Jésus by Bruno Dumont
* Ma 6-T va crack-er by Jean-François Richet
* Ma vie en rose by Alain Berliner
* Murmur of Youth by Lin Cheng-sheng
* The Perfect Circle (Savrseni Krug) by Ademir Kenović
* The Power of the Skirt (Taafe Fanga) by Adama Drabo
* A Friend of the Deceased by Viacheslav Kryshtofovych
* Sinon, oui by Claire Simon
* My Son the Fanatic by Udayan Prasad
* Suzaku by Naomi Kawase
* Train of Shadows (Tren de sombras) by José Luis Guerin
* Un frère… by Sylvie Verheyde
    Short films
* Liberté chérie by Jean-Luc Gaget
* Soyons amis ! by Thomas Bardinet
* Taxi de nuit by Marco Castilla
* Tout doit disparaître by Jean-Marc Moutout
* Y’a du foutage dans l’air by Djamel Bensalah

## Official Awards
### In Competition

* Palme d'Or:
** Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami
** The Eel by Shōhei Imamura
* Grand Prize of the Jury: The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan
* Best Director: Wong Kar-wai for Happy Together
* Best Screenplay: The Ice Storm by James Schamus
* Best Actress: Kathy Burke for Nil by Mouth
* Best Actor: Sean Penn for She's So Lovely
* Jury Prize: Western by Manuel Poirier
* 50th Anniversary Prize: Youssef Chahine (Lifetime Achievement Award)
* Palm of the Palms: Ingmar Bergman

### Caméra d'Or

* Suzaku by Naomi Kawase
** Special Mention: La Vie de Jésus by Bruno Dumont

### Short Film Palme d'Or

* ...Is It the Design on the Wrapper? by Tessa Sheridan
* Jury Prize:
** Leonie by Lieven Debrauwer
** Les Vacances by Emmanuelle Bercot

## Independent Awards
### FIPRESCI Prizes

* The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan (In competition)
* Voyage to the Beginning of the World by Manoel de Oliveira (Out of competition)

### Commission Supérieure Technique

* Technical Grand Prize: Thierry Arbogast (cinematography) in She's So Lovely and The Fifth Element

### Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

* The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan
** Special Mention:
*** Lucky Star by Ricardo Franco
*** Voyage to the Beginning of the World by Manoel de Oliveira

### Award of the Youth

* Foreign Film: Bent by Sean Mathias
* French Film: I Hate Love by Laurence Ferreira Barbosa

### International Critics' Week

* Mercedes-Benz Award: Junk Mail by Pål Sletaune
* Canal+ Award: The Signalman by Benoît Mariage

### François Chalais Award

* The Perfect Circle by Ademir Kenović