Francois Truffaut addressed these issues in 1956 and the festival was almost destroyed. The festival survived. In 1959, Traffaut was awarded the prize for best screenplay for Les Quatre Cent Coups or The Four hundred Blows. Despite the financial interest and the and political overtones the Cannes Film Festival remains an essential showcase for international cinema. Legend has it that the original drawing of the palm leaf was done by Jean Cocteau.
Reality is more prosaic than the myth.
In 1955, the Board of directors asked several jewellers to present their projects of a palm leaf for the awards to come. Lucienne Lazon was the winner of the contest. Originally, the palm's stem rested on a heart-shaped pedestal made of a sculpture in terracotta by S bastien. Since the early 1980's the round-shaped pedestal has been progressively transformed and by 1984 took the shape of a pyramid. In 1992, Thierry de Bourqueney redesigned the palm leaf, placing it on a hand-carved crystal pyramid.