# Palme d'Or

The Palme d'Or (French pronunciation:; English: Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. 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.
The Palme d'Or is widely considered one of the film industry's most prestigious awards.

## History

In 1954, the festival decided to present an award annually, titled the Grand Prix of the International Film Festival, with a new design each year from a contemporary artist. The festival's board of directors invited several jewellers 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 jeweller Lucienne Lazon, inspired by a sketch by director Jean Cocteau, had the bevelled lower extremity of the stem 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 his 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 festival's symbol, awarded each year to the director of the winning film, presented in a case of pure red Morocco leather lined with white suede.
As of 2023, Jane Campion, Julia Ducournau, and Justine Triet are the only female directors to have won the Palme d'Or (for The Piano, Titane, and Anatomy of a Fall, respectively). However, Bodil Ipsen won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film for The Red Meadows (along with Lau Lauritzen Jr.) as part of an 11-way tie at the inaugural 1946 festival.
Additionally, in 2013, when Blue Is the Warmest Color won the Palme d'Or, the jury headed by Steven Spielberg awarded it to the film's actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, as well as the director Abdellatif Kechiche. This remains the only instance where multiple Palme d'Or trophies were presented. The jury decided to include the actresses in the recognition due to a Cannes policy that forbids the Palme d'Or-winning film from receiving any additional awards. This policy would have prevented the jury from acknowledging the actresses separately. Regarding the unorthodox decision, Spielberg commented, "Had the casting been 3% wrong, [the film] wouldn't have worked like it did for us". Subsequently, Kechiche auctioned off his Palme d'Or trophy to fund his new feature film. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he expressed dissatisfaction with the festival's decision to award multiple trophies, stating that he felt they had "publicly insulted" him. He added, "Liberating myself from this Palme d'Or is a way of washing my hands of this sorry affair".
Since its reintroduction, the prize has been redesigned several times. At the beginning of the 1980s, the rounded shape of the pedestal, bearing the palm has 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; since then, it has been manufactured by the Swiss jewellery firm Chopard. The palm is made from 4.16 oz (118 g) of 18-carat yellow gold while the branch's base forms a small heart. The Palme d'or rests on a dainty crystal cushion shaped like an emerald-cut diamond. A single piece of cut crystal forms a cushion for the palm, which is hand-cast into a wax mould 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 it appears today, for his film Eternity and a Day.
The presentation of the 2014 Palme d'Or to Winter Sleep, a Turkish film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, occurred during the 100th anniversary year of Turkish cinema. On receiving the award, Ceylan dedicated it to the "young people" involved in Turkey's ongoing political unrest, and the workers killed in the Soma mine disaster, which occurred on the day before the commencement of the awards event.
In 2017, the award was redesigned 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 Festival was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented.

## Winners
### 1940s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country | Ref. |
| 1939 | The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was to have been held in 1939, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War. | The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was to have been held in 1939, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War. | The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was to have been held in 1939, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War. | The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was to have been held in 1939, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War. | The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was to have been held in 1939, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War. |
| 1946 | Brief Encounter | Brief Encounter | David Lean | United Kingdom | |
| 1946 | The Last Chance | Die Letzte Chance | Leopold Lindtberg | Switzerland | |
| 1946 | The Lost Weekend | The Lost Weekend | Billy Wilder | United States | |
| 1946 | María Candelaria | María Candelaria | Emilio Fernández | Mexico | |
| 1946 | Men Without Wings | Muži bez křídel | František Čáp | Czechoslovakia | |
| 1946 | Neecha Nagar | Neecha Nagar | Chetan Anand | India | |
| 1946 | Pastoral Symphony | La symphonie pastorale | Jean Delannoy | France | |
| 1946 | The Red Meadows | De røde enge | Bodil Ipsen Lau Lauritzen Jr. | Denmark | |
| 1946 | Rome, Open City | Roma, città aperta | Roberto Rossellini | Italy | |
| 1946 | Torment | Hets | Alf Sjöberg | Sweden | |
| 1946 | The Turning Point | Великий перелом | Fridrikh Ermler | Soviet Union | |
| 1947 | Antoine and Antoinette (Best Psychological & Love Film) | Antoine et Antoinette | Jacques Becker | France | |
| 1947 | Crossfire (Best Social Film) | Crossfire (Best Social Film) | Edward Dmytryk | United States | |
| 1947 | The Damned (Best Adventure & Crime Film) | Les Maudits | René Clément | France | |
| 1947 | Dumbo (Best Animation Design) | Dumbo (Best Animation Design) | Ben Sharpsteen | United States | |
| 1947 | Ziegfeld Follies (Best Musical Comedy) | Ziegfeld Follies (Best Musical Comedy) | Vincente Minnelli | United States | |
| 1948 | Festival cancelled | Festival cancelled | Festival cancelled | Festival cancelled | |
| 1949 | The Third Man | The Third Man | Carol Reed | United Kingdom | |

### 1950s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 1950 | Festival cancelled | Festival cancelled | Festival cancelled | Festival cancelled |
| 1951 | Miracle in Milan | Miracolo a Milano | Vittorio De Sica | Italy |
| 1951 | Miss Julie | Fröken Julie | Alf Sjöberg | Sweden |
| 1952 | Othello | Othello | Orson Welles | Italy / Morocco / United States |
| 1952 | 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 |
| 1955 | Marty $^§$ | Marty $^§$ | Delbert Mann | United States |
| 1956 | The Silent World | Le monde du silence | Jacques Cousteau Louis Malle | France |
| 1957 | Friendly Persuasion | Friendly Persuasion | William Wyler | United States |
| 1958 | The Cranes Are Flying | Летят журавли | Mikhail Kalatozov | Soviet Union |
| 1959 | Black Orpheus $^§$ | Orfeu Negro | Marcel Camus | France / Brazil |

### 1960s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country | Ref. |
| 1960 | La dolce vita $^§$ | La dolce vita $^§$ | Federico Fellini | Italy | |
| 1961 | The Long Absence $^§$ | Une aussi longue absence | Henri Colpi | France | |
| 1961 | Viridiana $^§$ | Viridiana $^§$ | Luis Buñuel | Spain | |
| 1962 | O Pagador de Promessas $^§$ | O Pagador de Promessas $^§$ | Anselmo Duarte | Brazil | |
| 1963 | The Leopard $^§$ | Il gattopardo | Luchino Visconti | Italy | |
| 1964 | The Umbrellas of Cherbourg | Les parapluies de Cherbourg | Jacques Demy | France | |
| 1965 | The Knack ...and How to Get It | The Knack ...and How to Get It | Richard Lester | United Kingdom | |
| 1966 | The Birds, the Bees and the Italians | Signore e signori | Pietro Germi | Italy | |
| 1966 | A Man and a Woman | Un homme et une femme | Claude Lelouch | France | |
| 1967 | Blowup | Blowup | Michelangelo Antonioni | United Kingdom | |
| 1968 | The festival was cancelled midway through to show solidarity with the students and workers who were demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement. | The festival was cancelled midway through to show solidarity with the students and workers who were demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement. | The festival was cancelled midway through to show solidarity with the students and workers who were demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement. | The festival was cancelled midway through to show solidarity with the students and workers who were demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement. | The festival was cancelled midway through to show solidarity with the students and workers who were demonstrating in what became known as the May 68 movement. |
| 1969 | If.... | If.... | Lindsay Anderson | United Kingdom | |

### 1970s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 1970 | M*A*S*H | M*A*S*H | Robert Altman | United States |
| 1971 | The Go-Between | The Go-Between | Joseph Losey | United Kingdom |
| 1972 | The Mattei Affair $^§$ | Il caso Mattei | Francesco Rosi | Italy |
| 1972 | The Working Class Goes to Heaven $^§$ | La classe operaia va in paradiso | Elio Petri | Italy |
| 1973 | The Hireling | The Hireling | Alan Bridges | United Kingdom |
| 1973 | Scarecrow | Scarecrow | Jerry Schatzberg | United States |
| 1974 | The Conversation | The Conversation | Francis Ford Coppola | United States |
| 1975 | Chronicle of the Years of Fire | Chronique des années de braise | Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina | Algeria |
| 1976 | Taxi Driver | Taxi Driver | Martin Scorsese | United States |
| 1977 | Padre Padrone | Padre Padrone | Paolo and Vittorio Taviani | Italy |
| 1978 | The Tree of Wooden Clogs $^§$ | L'albero degli zoccoli | Ermanno Olmi | Italy |
| 1979 | Apocalypse Now | Apocalypse Now | Francis Ford Coppola | United States |
| 1979 | The Tin Drum | Die Blechtrommel | Volker Schlöndorff | West Germany / France |

### 1980s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 1980 | All That Jazz | All That Jazz | Bob Fosse | United States |
| 1980 | Kagemusha | 影武者 | Akira Kurosawa | Japan |
| 1981 | Man of Iron | Człowiek z żelaza | Andrzej Wajda | Poland |
| 1982 | Missing $^§$ | Missing $^§$ | Costa-Gavras | United States |
| 1982 | Yol $^§$ | Yol $^§$ | Yılmaz Güney & Şerif Gören | Turkey |
| 1983 | The Ballad of Narayama | 楢山節考 | Shōhei Imamura | Japan |
| 1984 | Paris, Texas $^§$ | Paris, Texas $^§$ | Wim Wenders | West Germany / France |
| 1985 | When Father Was Away on Business $^§$ | Отац на службеном путу | Emir Kusturica | Yugoslavia |
| 1986 | The Mission | The Mission | Roland Joffé | United Kingdom / United States |
| 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 | Sex, Lies, and Videotape | Steven Soderbergh | United States |

### 1990s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 1990 | Wild at Heart | Wild at Heart | David Lynch | United States |
| 1991 | Barton Fink $^§$ | Barton Fink $^§$ | Joel Coen | United States |
| 1992 | The Best Intentions | Den goda viljan | Bille August | Denmark / Sweden |
| 1993 | Farewell My Concubine | 霸王別姬 | Chen Kaige | Hong Kong |
| 1993 | The Piano | The Piano | Jane Campion | New Zealand / Australia / France |
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | Pulp Fiction | Quentin Tarantino | United States |
| 1995 | Underground | Подземље | Emir Kusturica | Yugoslavia |
| 1996 | Secrets & Lies | Secrets & Lies | Mike Leigh | France / United Kingdom |
| 1997 | The Eel | うなぎ | Shōhei Imamura | Japan |
| 1997 | Taste of Cherry | طعم گيلاس | Abbas Kiarostami | Iran |
| 1998 | Eternity and a Day $^§$ | Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα | Theo Angelopoulos | Greece |
| 1999 | Rosetta $^§$ | Rosetta $^§$ | Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne | Belgium |

### 2000s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 2000 | Dancer in the Dark | Dancer in the Dark | Lars von Trier | Denmark |
| 2001 | The Son's Room | La stanza del figlio | Nanni Moretti | Italy |
| 2002 | The Pianist | The Pianist | Roman Polanski | Poland / France / Germany / United Kingdom |
| 2003 | Elephant | Elephant | Gus Van Sant | United States |
| 2004 | Fahrenheit 9/11 | Fahrenheit 9/11 | Michael Moore | United States |
| 2005 | L'Enfant | L'Enfant | Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne | Belgium / France |
| 2006 | The Wind That Shakes the Barley $^§$ | The Wind That Shakes the Barley $^§$ | Ken Loach | Ireland / United Kingdom / Italy / Germany |
| 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 | The White Ribbon | Michael Haneke | Germany / Austria / France |

### 2010s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 2010 | Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives | ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ | Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Thailand / France / Germany |
| 2011 | The Tree of Life | The Tree of Life | Terrence Malick | United States |
| 2012 | Amour | Amour | Michael Haneke | France / Germany / Austria |
| 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 | Dheepan | Jacques Audiard | France |
| 2016 | I, Daniel Blake | I, Daniel Blake | Ken Loach | United Kingdom |
| 2017 | The Square | The Square | Ruben Östlund | Sweden / Germany / France / Denmark |
| 2018 | Shoplifters | 万引き家族 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan |
| 2019 | Parasite $^§$ | 기생충 | Bong Joon-ho | South Korea |

### 2020s

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| 2020 | Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented. | Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented. | Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented. | Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented. |
| 2021 | Titane | Titane | Julia Ducournau | France / Belgium |
| 2022 | Triangle of Sadness | Triangle of Sadness | Ruben Östlund | Sweden / Germany / France / United Kingdom |
| 2023 | Anatomy of a Fall | Anatomie d'une chute | Justine Triet | France |
| 2024 | Anora | Anora | Sean Baker | United States |

#### Notes

    $^§$ Denotes unanimous win

### Special Palme d'Or

During the 2018 closing ceremony, the jury awarded a "Special Palme d'Or" for the first time ever. Even though the award was not intended to be an Honorary Palme d'Or to Jean-Luc Godard, the move was made as an homage to his career, and as an award to the film itself as well.
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country | Ref. |
| 2018 | The Image Book | Le Livre d'image | Jean-Luc Godard | Switzerland | |

## By country

| Country | Number of Wins |
| France | 27 |
| United States | 24 |
| Italy | 13 |
| United Kingdom | 13 |
| Germany | 10 |
| Denmark | 5 |
| Japan | 5 |
| Sweden | 5 |
| Belgium | 4 |
| Soviet Union | 2 |
| Brazil | 2 |
| Yugoslavia | 2 |
| Poland | 2 |
| Austria | 2 |
| Spain | 2 |
| Turkey | 2 |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 |
| India | 1 |
| Mexico | 1 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| Morocco | 1 |
| Algeria | 1 |
| Australia | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Iran | 1 |
| Greece | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Romania | 1 |
| South Korea | 1 |
| Thailand | 1 |
* ↑ The festival was not inaugurated until after the conclusion of the war. Sixty-three years later, the organizers of the 2002 festival assembled a jury of six members, including Dieter Kosslick and Alberto Barbera, to watch seven of the twelve features which had been entered into the 1939 competition, namely: Goodbye, Mr. Chips, La Loi du Nord, Lenin in 1918, The Four Feathers, The Wizard of Oz, Union Pacific, and Boefje. Union Pacific by Cecil B. DeMille was retrospectively voted the winner of the 1939 Palme d'Or.
* ↑ West Germany is included.

## Multiple winners

Nine directors or director duos have won the award twice. Three of them ($^‡$) have won for consecutive films.
| Number of Wins | Directors | Nationality | Films |
| 2 | Alf Sjöberg | Sweden | Torment (1946), Miss Julie (1951) |
| 2 | Francis Ford Coppola | United States | The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979) |
| 2 | Bille August ‡ | Denmark | Pelle the Conqueror (1988), The Best Intentions (1992) |
| 2 | Emir Kusturica | Yugoslavia | When Father Was Away on Business (1985), Underground (1995) |
| 2 | Shōhei Imamura | Japan | The Ballad of Narayama (1983), The Eel (1997) |
| 2 | Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne | Belgium | Rosetta (1999), L'Enfant (2005) |
| 2 | Michael Haneke ‡ | Austria | The White Ribbon (2009), Amour (2012) |
| 2 | Ken Loach | United Kingdom | The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), I, Daniel Blake (2016) |
| 2 | Ruben Östlund ‡ | Sweden | The Square (2017), Triangle of Sadness (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.
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality of Recipient |
| 1997 | Ingmar Bergman | Filmmaker | Sweden |
Since 2002 the festival began to award a non-competitive Honorary Palme d'Or to directors or actors who had achieved a notable body of work but who had never won a competitive Palme d'Or.
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality of Recipient |
| 2002 | Woody Allen | Filmmaker and actor | United States |
| 2003 | Jeanne Moreau | Actress | France |
| 2005 | Catherine Deneuve | Actress | France |
| 2007 | Jane Fonda | Actress and producer | United States |
| 2008 | Manoel de Oliveira | Filmmaker | Portugal |
| 2009 | Clint Eastwood | Actor and filmmaker | United States |
| 2011 | Jean-Paul Belmondo | Actor | France |
| 2011 | Bernardo Bertolucci | Filmmaker | Italy |
| 2015 | Agnès Varda | Filmmaker | France |
| 2016 | Jean-Pierre Léaud | Actor | France |
| 2017 | Jeffrey Katzenberg | Producer | United States |
| 2019 | Alain Delon | Actor | France |
| 2021 | Marco Bellocchio | Filmmaker | Italy |
| 2021 | Jodie Foster | Actress and filmmaker | United States |
| 2022 | Forest Whitaker | Actor and producer | United States |
| 2022 | Tom Cruise | Actor and producer | United States |
| 2023 | Michael Douglas | Actor and producer | United States |
| 2023 | Harrison Ford | Actor and producer | United States |
| 2024 | Meryl Streep | Actress | United States |
| 2024 | George Lucas | Filmmaker and producer | United States |
| 2024 | Studio Ghibli | Animation Studio | Japan |