# Prix Jean Vigo

The Prix Jean Vigo (French pronunciation:) is an award in the French cinema given annually since 1951 to a French film director, in homage to Jean Vigo. Since 1960, the award has been given to both a director of a feature film and to a director of a short film. The award is usually given to a young director, for their independent spirit and stylistic originality.

## History

The Jean Vigo Prize has been awarded since 1951 as a tribute to film director Jean Vigo. It was created by Claude Aveline, the executor of Jean Vigo's will, Vigo's daughter Luce Vigo, and a number of filmmakers. Members of the first jury, in 1951, included Jacques Becker, Jean Cocteau, Paul Gilson, Georges Sadoul, and Luce Vigo.
The award recognizes films "for their inventiveness, originality and intellectual independence." The goal of the award is to "recognize a future auteur, [to] discover through him a passion and a gift," according to the 2018 jury.

## Winners
### 1950s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Notes |
| 1951 | La Montagne est verte | La Montagne est verte | Jean Leherissey | short |
| 1952 | La Grande Vie | La Grande Vie | Henri Schneider | |
| 1953 | White Mane | Crin Blanc | Albert Lamorisse | short |
| 1954 | Statues Also Die | Les statues meurent aussi | Alain Resnais, Chris Marker and Ghislain Cloquet | short |
| 1955 | Émile Zola | Émile Zola | Jean Vidal | short |
| 1956 | Night and Fog | Nuit et Brouillard | Alain Resnais | short |
| 1957 | Léon la lune | Léon la lune | Alain Jessua | short |
| 1958 | Les Femmes de Stermetz | Les Femmes de Stermetz | Louis Grospierre | short |
| 1959 | Le Beau Serge | Le Beau Serge | Claude Chabrol | |

### 1960s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 1960 | Breathless | À bout de souffle | Jean-Luc Godard |
| 1961 | La Peau et les os | La Peau et les os | Jean-Paul Sassy and Jacques Panuel |
| 1962 | War of the Buttons | La Guerre des boutons | Yves Robert |
| 1963 | To Die in Madrid | Mourir à Madrid | Frédéric Rossif |
| 1964 | La Belle Vie | La Belle Vie | Robert Enrico |
| 1965 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 1966 | Black Girl | La Noire de... | Ousmane Sembène |
| 1967 | Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? | Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? | William Klein |
| 1968 | O Salto | O Salto | Christian de Chalonge |
| 1969 | Naked Childhood | L'Enfance nue | Maurice Pialat |

### 1970s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 1970 | Hoa Binh | Hòa Bình | Raoul Coutard |
| 1971 | Ramparts of Clay | Remparts d'argile | Jean-Louis Bertuccelli |
| 1972 | Continental Circus | Continental Circus | Jérôme Laperroussaz |
| 1973 | Repeated Absences | Absences répétées | Guy Gilles |
| 1974 | The Man Who Sleeps | Un homme qui dort | Bernard Queyssanne and Georges Perec |
| 1975 | The Story of Paul | Histoire de Paul | René Féret |
| 1976 | L'Affiche rouge | L'Affiche rouge | Frank Cassenti |
| 1977 | Paradiso | Paradiso | Christian Bricout |
| 1978 | Bako-l'autre rive | Bako-l'autre rive | Jacques Champreux |
| 1979 | Certaines nouvelles | Certaines nouvelles | Jacques Davila |

### 1980s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 1980 | Ma blonde entends-tu dans la ville? | Ma blonde entends-tu dans la ville? | René Gilson |
| 1981 | Le Jardinier | Le Jardinier | Jean-Pierre Sentier |
| 1982 | L'Enfant Secret | L'Enfant Secret | Philippe Garrel |
| 1983 | Not Awarded | Not Awarded | Not Awarded |
| 1984 | Vive la sociale! | Vive la sociale! | Gérard Mordillat |
| 1985 | Tea in the Harem | Le Thé au harem d'Archimède | Mehdi Charef |
| 1986 | Maine-Ocean Express | Maine-Ocean Express | Jacques Rozier |
| 1987 | Buisson ardent | Buisson ardent | Laurent Perrin |
| 1988 | La Comédie du travail | La Comédie du travail | Luc Moullet |
| 1989 | Chine ma douleur | Chine ma douleur | Dai Sijie |

### 1990s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 1990 | Mona et moi | Mona et moi | Patrick Grandperret |
| 1991 | Le Brasier | Le Brasier | Éric Barbier |
| 1992 | Paris Awakens | Paris s'éveille | Olivier Assayas |
| 1993 | Les histoires d'amour finissent mal... en général | Les histoires d'amour finissent mal... en général | Anne Fontaine |
| 1994 | Trop de bonheur | Trop de bonheur | Cédric Kahn |
| 1995 | Don't Forget You're Going to Die | N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir | Xavier Beauvois |
| 1996 | Encore | Encore | Pascal Bonitzer |
| 1997 | La Vie de Jésus | La Vie de Jésus | Bruno Dumont |
| 1998 | Tell Me I'm Dreaming | Tell Me I'm Dreaming | Claude Mouriéras |
| 1999 | La vie ne me fait pas peur | La vie ne me fait pas peur | Noémie Lvoski |

### 2000s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 2000 | The King's Daughters | Saint-Cyr | Patricia Mazuy |
| 2000 | De l'histoire ancienne | De l'histoire ancienne | Orso Miret |
| 2001 | Candidature | Candidature | Emmanuel Bourdieu |
| 2001 | That Old Dream That Moves | Ce vieux rêve qui bouge | Alain Guiraudie |
| 2002 | Royal Bonbon | Royal Bonbon | Charles Najman |
| 2003 | Toutes ces belles promesses | Toutes ces belles promesses | Jean-Paul Civeyrac |
| 2004 | Quand je serai star | Quand je serai star | Patrick Mimouni |
| 2005 | Les Yeux clairs | Les Yeux clairs | Jérôme Bonnell |
| 2006 | Le Dernier des fous | Le Dernier des fous | Laurent Achard |
| 2007 | La France | La France | Serge Bozon |
| 2008 | Nulle part, terre promise | Nulle part, terre promise | Emmanuel Finkiel |
| 2009 | Family Tree | L'Arbre et la Forêt | Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau |

### 2010s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 2010 | Love Like Poison | Un poison violent | Katell Quillévéré |
| 2011 | Smugglers' Songs | Les Chants de Mandrin | Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche |
| 2012 | L'Âge atomique | L'Âge atomique | Héléna Klotz |
| 2013 | L'Enclos du temps | L'Enclos du temps | Jean-Charles Fitoussi |
| 2014 | Mange tes morts | Mange tes morts | Jean-Charles Hue |
| 2015 | The Fear | La Peur | Damien Odoul |
| 2016 | The Death of Louis XIV | La Mort de Louis XIV | Albert Serra |
| 2017 | Barbara | Barbara | Mathieu Amalric |
| 2018 | Shéhérazade | Shéhérazade | Jean-Bernard Marlin |
| 2018 | Knife+Heart | Un couteau dans le cœur | Yann Gonzalez |
| 2019 | Vif-Argent | Vif-Argent | Stéphane Batut |

### 2020s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 2020 | Énorme | Énorme | Sophie Letourneur |
| 2021 | Petite Solange | Petite Solange | Axelle Ropert |
| 2022 | Saint Omer | Saint Omer | Alice Diop |
| 2023 | La Rivière | La Rivière | Dominique Marchais |
| 2024 | Holy Cow | Vingt Dieux | Louise Courvoisier |

## Short film
### 1960s

* 1960: Enfants des courants d'air by Édouard Luntz
* 1961: not awarded
* 1962: 10 juin 1944 by Maurice Cohen
* 1963: La Jetée by Chris Marker
* 1964: La Saint-Firmin by Robert Destanque
* 1965: Fait à Coaraze by Gérard Belkin
* 1966: not awarded
* 1967: not awarded
* 1968: Désirée by Fernand Moszkowicz
* 1969: Le Deuxième Ciel by Louis-Roger

#### 1970s

* 1970: La Passion selon Florimond by Laurent Gomes
* 1971: Derniers hivers by Jean-Charles Tacchella
* 1972: not awarded
* 1973: Le Soldat et les trois sœurs by Pascal Aubier
* 1974: Septembre chilien by Bruno Muel and Théo Robichet
* 1975: La Corrida by Christian Broutin
* 1976: Caméra by Christian Paureilhe
* 1977: not awarded
* 1978: not awarded
* 1979: Nuit féline by Gérard Marx

#### 1980s

* 1980: not awarded
* 1981: not awarded
* 1982: Lourdes, l'hiver by Marie-Claude Treilhou
* 1983: La Fonte de Barlaeus by Pierre-Henri Salfati
* 1984: not awarded
* 1985: Épopine ou le Fer à repasser by Michel Chion
* 1986: Poussières d'étoiles by Agnès Merlet
* 1987: Pondichéry, juste avant l'oubli by Joël Fargès
* 1988: Elle et lui by François Margolin
* 1989: Le Porte-plume by Marie-Christine Perrodin

#### 1990s

* 1990: Elli Fat Man by Michel Such
* 1991: La Vie des morts by Arnaud Desplechin
* 1992: Des filles et des chiens by Sophie Fillières
* 1993: Faits et gestes by Emmanuel Descombes
* 1994: 75 centilitres de prières by Jacques Maillot
* 1995: Tous à la manif by Laurent Cantet
* 1996: not awarded
* 1997: Soyons amis ! by Thomas Bardinet
* 1998: Les Corps ouverts by Sébastien Lifshitz
* 1999: Le Bleu du ciel by Christian Dor

#### 2000s

* 2000: Les Filles de mon pays by Yves Caumon
* 2001: Ce vieux rêve qui bouge by Alain Guiraudie
* 2002: L'Arpenteur by Michel Klein and Sarah Petit
* 2003: La Coupure by Nathalie Loubeyre
* 2004: La nuit sera longue by Olivier Torres
* 2005: La Peau trouée by Julien Samani
* 2006: De sortie by Thomas Salvador
* 2007: Silêncio  [fr] by F. J. Ossang [fr]
* 2008: Les Paradis perdus by Hélier Cisterne
* 2009: Montparnasse by Mikhael Hers

#### 2010s

* 2010: La République by Nicolas Pariser
* 2011: La Dame au chien by Damien Manivel
* 2012:
** La Règle de trois by Louis Garrel
** La Vie Parisienne by Vincent Dietschy
* 2013: Le Quepa sur la vilni ! by Yann Le Quellec
* 2014: Inupiluk by Sébastien Betbeder
* 2015: Le Dernier des Céfrans by Pierre-Emmanuel Urcun
* 2016: Le Gouffre by Vincent Le Port
* 2017: Le Film de l'été by Emmanuel Marre
* 2018: L'Amie du dimanche by Guillaume Brac
* 2019: Braquer Poitiers by Claude Schmitz

#### 2020s

* 2020: Un adieu by Mathilde Profit
* 2021: Le Roi David

## Award in Spain

Spain's Punto de Vista International Documentary Film Festival presents the Premio Jean Vigo to the best director. The award aims to strengthen both the spirit that originally inspired the festival and the festival's commitment to the work of Jean Vigo. The creation of this prize was made possible thanks to the close ties between Punto de Vista and the family of the French filmmaker.
In 2005, the festival paid tribute to Vigo on the centenary of his birth. Luce Vigo, film critic and daughter of Vigo and Elizabeth Lozinska, attended that year. The festival provided a retrospective of Vigo's entire filmography and also represented the first step in a relationship that resulted in the award. The festival took its name, Punto de Vista (English: "point of view"), as a tribute to Vigo, the first director to refer, in the 1930s, to a “documented point of view” as a distinctive sign of a form of filmmaking that commits the filmmaker.