The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. 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 The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...

'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 Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

, in tribute to the coat of arms of the city of

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

, evoking the famous legend of Saint Honorat and the palm trees lining the famous

Promenade de la Croisette The Promenade de la Croisette (), or Boulevard de la Croisette, is a prominent road in Cannes, France. It stretches along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and is about 2 km long. The Croisette is known for the Palais des Festivals et des ...

. The original design by Parisian jeweller Lucienne Lazon, inspired by a sketch by director

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

, had the bevelled lower extremity of the stalk forming a heart, and the pedestal a sculpture in

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

by the artist

Sébastien Sébastien is a common French given name. It is a French form of pasté Latin name ''Sebastianus'' meaning "from Sebaste". Sebaste was a common placename in classical Antiquity, derived from the Greek word ''σεβαστος'', or ''sebastos'', ...

. In 1955, the first Palme d'Or was awarded to

Delbert Mann Delbert Martin Mann Jr. (January 30, 1920 – November 11, 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Marty'' (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay of the same name which he ...

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 Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maroquin, or German Saffian from Safi, a Moroccan town famous for leather) is a vegetable-tanned leather known for its softness, pliability, and ability to take color. It has been widely used in ...

lined with white

suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...

. As of 2021,

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...

and

Julia Ducournau Julia Ducournau (; born 18 November 1983) is a French film director and screenwriter. She made her feature film debut in 2016 with ''Raw (film), Raw''. At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, she won the Palme d'Or for her film ''Titane'', which made he ...

are the only female directors to win the Palme d'Or (for ''

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin in her first major acting role, the film focuses on a Elective mutism, mute Scott ...

'' and ''

Titane ''Titane'' (, "Titanium") is a 2021 body horror drama film, drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The French-Belgian co-production stars Agathe Rousselle in her feature film debut as Alexia, a woman who, after being injured in a ...

'', respectively). However, 2013, when ''

Blue Is the Warmest Color ''Blue Is the Warmest Colour'' (french: link=yes, La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2; ) is a 2013 romance film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film follo ...

'' won the Palme d'Or, the Steven Spielberg-headed jury awarded it to the film's actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and

Léa Seydoux Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (; born 1 July 1985) is a French actor. Known for her roles in both French cinema and in Hollywood she's received various accolades including the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard in 2009 as wel ...

as well as director Abdellatif Kechiche, the only time multiple Palme d'Or trophies have been awarded. Palmed'or

The jury decided to present it to the actresses as well due to a Cannes policy forbidding the Palme d'Or-winning film from receiving any additional awards, which would have prevented the jury from recognizing the actresses separately. Of the unorthodox decision, Spielberg said, "Had the casting been 3% wrong,

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

wouldn't have worked like it did for us". Kechiche later auctioned off his Palme d'Or trophy to fund his new feature film, and, in an interview with ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', expressed dissatisfaction that the festival had awarded multiple trophies. He said 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". 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 Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of Molding (process), moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasiv ...

. In 1997, Caroline Scheufele redesigned the statuette; since then, it has been manufactured by the Swiss jewellery firm

Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard, is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by ...

. The palm is made from 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

. 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 Nuri Bilge Ceylan (, born 26 January 1959) is a Turkish photographer, filmmaker and actor best known for the Palme d'Or winning '' Winter Sleep'' (2014). Early life Ceylan was born in Istanbul on 26 January 1959. His interest in photography sta ...

, 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 On 13 May 2014, blasting at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed in what was the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by ...

, 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 The 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to take place from 12 to 23 May 2020. On 13 January 2020, Spike Lee was named as the president of the Jury. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, festival management announced on 14 A ...

was cancelled due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented.

Winners

; Notes : ^# Denotes ''

ex aequo ''Ex aequo et bono'' (Latin for "according to the right and good" or "from equity and conscience") is a Latin phrase that is used as a legal term of art. In the context of arbitration, it refers to the power of arbitrators to dispense with conside ...

'' win : ^§ Denotes unanimous win : ^‡ The Palme d'Or for ''

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

'' 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The organisers 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 ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in th ...

'', '' Goodbye Mr. Chips'', ''

Lenin in 1918 ''Lenin in 1918'' (russian: Ленин в 1918 году, ''Lenin v 1918 godu'') is a Soviet biographical drama film released in 1939. It gives the background of the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The film was directed by Mikhai ...

'', ''

La Loi du Nord ''La Loi du nord'' (, "The Law of the North"; also called ''La Piste du Nord'', "The Northern Trail") is a 1939 French adventure drama film directed by Jacques Feyder who co-wrote screenplay with Alexandre Arnoux and Charles Spaak, based on novel ...

'', ''

'' & '' The Wizard of Oz''.

Multiple winners

Nine directors or co-directors have won the award twice. Three of these (^‡) have won for consecutive films. *

Alf Sjöberg Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg (21 June 1903 – 17 April 1980) was a Swedish theatre and film director. He won the Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for '' Torment'' ( sv, Hets) (part of an eleven-way tie), and in 1951 ...

(1946 & 1951) * Francis Ford Coppola (1974 & 1979) *

Bille August Bille August (born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television. In a career spanning over four decades, he has been the recipient of numerous accolades, making him one of the most acclaimed co ...

(1988 & 1992) *

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

(1985 & 1995) * Shohei Imamura (1983 & 1997) * Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (1999 & 2005) *

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

(2009 & 2012) *

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

(2006 & 2016) *

Ruben Östlund Ruben Östlund (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his black comedic and satirical films ''Force Majeure'' (2014), '' The Square'' (2017) and '' Triangle of Sadness'' (2022), all of which received largely positive reviews an ...

(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. In 2002 the festival began to sporadically 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. In 2018, the Cannes jury also awarded a "Special Palme d'Or" for the first time.

References

External links

''Palme d'Or'' Winners
from 1976 to the present, by gross box-office
Festival-cannes.com

Cannes Film Festival

IMDB IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...