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 ...

. 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 company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre ...

'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 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

bevel A bevelled edge (UK) or beveled edge (US) is an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage they are often interchanged, while in technical usage they ...

led lower extremity of the

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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 i ...

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 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 2021, Jane Campion and Julia Ducournau are the only female directors to win the Palme d'Or (for '' The Piano'' and ''

Titane ''Titane'' (, "Titanium") is a 2021 body horror 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 car accide ...

'', respectively). However, 2013, when '' Blue Is the Warmest Color'' won the Palme d'Or, the

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

-headed jury awarded it to the film's actresses

Adèle Exarchopoulos Adèle Exarchopoulos (; born 22 November 1993 in Paris) is a French actress. She is best known for her leading role as Adèle in '' Blue Is the Warmest Colour'' (2013), for which she earned international attention and critical acclaim; at the 20 ...

and Léa Seydoux 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 filmwouldn'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 large ...

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

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. 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 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 ''

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'', 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, 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 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 identified ...

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

Winners

; Notes : ^# Denotes '' ex aequo'' win : ^§ Denotes unanimous win : ^‡ The Palme d'Or for '' Union Pacific'' 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The organisers of the 2002 festival presented part of the original 1939 selection to a professional jury of six members. The films were: ''

Boefje '' Boefje'' (, "rascal") is a 1939 Dutch children's comedic melodrama directed by Detlef Sierck. The film is based on a classic 1903 Dutch children's book of the same name, written by journalist Marie Joseph Brusse. Plot summary Jan Grovers and ...

'', '' The Four Feathers'', '' Goodbye Mr. Chips'', '' Lenin in 1918'', '' La Loi du Nord'', '' Union Pacific'' & ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

''.

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 fo ...

(1946 & 1951) * Francis Ford Coppola (1974 & 1979) * Bille August (1988 & 1992) * Emir Kusturica (1985 & 1995) * Shohei Imamura (1983 & 1997) * Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (1999 & 2005) * Michael Haneke (2009 & 2012) * Ken Loach (2006 & 2016) * Ruben Östlund (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

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