The (; ) 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 was replaced again by the Grand Prix, before being reintroduced in 1975.
The is widely considered one of the film industry's most prestigious awards.
History
thumb|left|upright=0.75|The Commune of Cannes coat of arms
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.
In 1955, the first was awarded to Delbert Mann for his film Marty. 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 as it appears today, for his film Eternity and a Day. This remains the only instance where multiple trophies were presented. The jury decided to include the actresses in the recognition due to a Cannes policy that forbids the -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 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". 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.
From 2026, the non-English language winners will also be automatically eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
As of 2026, Jane Campion, Julia Ducournau and Justine Triet are the only female directors to have won the prize (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.thumb|120px|[[Roberto Rossellini won in 1946.]]
Winners
thumb|120px|[[Orson Welles won in 1952.]]
thumb|120px|[[Federico Fellini won in 1960.]]
thumb|120px|[[Robert Altman won in 1970.]]
thumb|120px|[[Francis Ford Coppola won twice in 1974 and 1979.]]
thumb|120px|[[Martin Scorsese won in 1976.]]
thumb|120px|[[Akira Kurosawa won in 1980.]]
thumb|120px|[[Emir Kusturica won twice in 1985 and 1995.]]
thumb|120px|[[David Lynch won in 1990.]]
thumb|120px|[[Joel Coen won in 1991.]]
thumb|120px|[[Jane Campion won in 1993, becoming the first woman to win it.]]
thumb|120px|[[Quentin Tarantino won in 1994.]]
thumb|120px| won in 1997.
thumb|120px| won twice in 1999 and 2005.
thumb|120px|[[Ken Loach won twice in 2006 and 2016.]]
thumb|120px|[[Cristian Mungiu won twice in 2007 and 2026.]]
thumb|120px|[[Michael Haneke won twice in 2009 and 2012.]]
thumb|120px|[[Ruben Östlund won in 2017 and 2022.]]
thumb|120px|[[Bong Joon Ho won in 2019.]]
thumb|120px|[[Julia Ducournau won in 2021, becoming the first woman to win it solo.]]
thumb|120px|[[Sean Baker won in 2024.]]
thumb|120px|[[Jafar Panahi won in 2025.]]
1940s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1939
| colspan="5" style="background-color:#EFD; padding-left:3%" data-sort-value="ω" | The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was to have been held in 1939, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
|-
! rowspan="11" style="text-align:center;"| 1946
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Switzerland
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"|
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"|
|
| Mexico
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Czechoslovakia
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"|
|
| India
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
| <br/>
| Denmark
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Sweden
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Soviet Union
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| 1947
| <small>(Best Psychological & Love Film)</small>
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"| <small>(Best Social Film)</small>
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| <small>(Best Adventure & Crime Film)</small>
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2" | <small>(Best Musical Comedy)</small>
|
|United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1949
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
1950s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1951
|
|
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Sweden
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1952
| colspan="2"| Othello
|
| Italy, Morocco, United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1953
|
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1954
|
|
|
| Japan
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1955
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1956
|
|
| <br/>
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1957
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1958
|
|
|
| Soviet Union
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1959
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| France, Brazil
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
1960s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1960
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1961
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"| <sup>§</sup>
|
| Spain
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1962
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| Brazil
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1963
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1964
|
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1965
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1966
|
|
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1967
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1968
| colspan="5" style="background-color:#EFD; padding-left:3%" data-sort-value="ω" | 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.
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1969
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
1970s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1970
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1971
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1972
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| rowspan="2" | Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1973
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"|
|
| rowspan="2" | United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1974
| colspan="2" |
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1975
|
|
|
| Algeria
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1976
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1977
| colspan="2" |
|
| rowspan="2" | Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1978
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1979
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| West Germany, France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
1980s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1980
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|
|
|
| Japan
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1981
|
|
|
| Poland
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1982
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
| Costa-Gavras
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"| <sup>§</sup>
| &
| Turkey
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1983
|
|
|
| Japan
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1984
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| West Germany, France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1985
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| Yugoslavia
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1986
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom, United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1987
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1988
|
|
|
| Denmark
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1989
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
1990s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1990
| colspan="2" |
|
| rowspan="2" | United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1991
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1992
|
|
|
| Denmark, Sweden
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1993
|
|
|
| Hong Kong
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| colspan="2"|
|
| New Zealand, Australia, France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1994
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1995
| Underground
|
|
|Yugoslavia
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1996
| colspan="2" |
|
| France, United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 1997
|
|
|
| Japan
| style="text-align:center;" , rowspan=2|
|-
|
|
|
| Iran
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| Greece
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1999
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| Belgium
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
2000s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2000
| colspan="2" |
|
| Denmark
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2001
|
|
|
| Italy
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2002
| colspan="2" |
|
| Poland, France, Germany, United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2003
| colspan="2" |
|
| rowspan="2" | United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2004
| colspan="2" |
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| colspan="2" |
| Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
| Belgium, France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| colspan="2" | <sup>§</sup>
|
| Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2007
|
|
|
| Romania
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2009
|
|
|
| Germany, Austria, France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
2010s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2010
|
|
|
| Thailand, France, Germany
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| colspan="2" |
|
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2012
| colspan="2" |
|
| France, Germany, Austria
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2013
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| France, Belgium, Spain
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2014
|
|
|
| Turkey, France, Germany
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2015
| colspan="2" |
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2016
| colspan="2" |
|
| United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2017
| colspan="2" |
|
| Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2018
|
|
|
| Japan
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2019
| <sup>§</sup>
|
|
| South Korea
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
2020s
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
! scope="col" style="width:1%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| English Title
! scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Original Title
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Director
! scope="col" style="width:3%;"| Production Country
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2020
| colspan="4" style="background-color:#EFD; padding-left:3%" data-sort-value="ω" | Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 56 films were announced as official selections by the festival, but no awards were presented.
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2022
| colspan="2" |
|
| Sweden, Germany, France, United Kingdom
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2023
|
|
|
| France
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2024
| colspan="2"| Anora
| Sean Baker
| United States
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! style="text-align: center;"| 2025
| It Was Just an Accident
|
| Jafar Panahi
| Iran, France, Luxembourg
| style="text-align: center;"|
|-
! style="text-align: center;"| 2026
| colspan="2"| Fjord
| Cristian Mungiu
| Romania, Norway, Denmark, France, Sweden
| style="text-align: center;"|
|}
; Notes
: <sup><nowiki>§</nowiki></sup> 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.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-bottom:4px"
|-
! Year !! English Title !! Original Title !! Director !! Production Country || Ref.
|-
! 2018
| The Image Book || Le Livre d'image || Jean-Luc Godard || Switzerland, France ||
|}
Wins by country
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Number of wins
|-
|
| align="center"| 29
|-
|
| align="center"| 22
|-
|
| align="center" rowspan="2"| 13
|-
|
|-
|
| align="center"| 10
|-
|
| align="center" rowspan="3"| 5
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
| align="center"| 4
|-
|
| rowspan="9" align="center"| 2
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
| rowspan="14" align="center"| 1
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|}
Multiple winners
Ten directors or director duos have won the award twice. Three of them (<sup></sup>) have won for consecutive films.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col"| Number of wins
! scope="col"| Directors
! scope="col"| Nationality
! scope="col"| Films
|-
! rowspan="10"| 2
| Alf Sjöberg
| Sweden
| Torment (1946), Miss Julie (1951)
|-
| Francis Ford Coppola
| United States
| The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979)
|-
| Bille August
| Denmark
| Pelle the Conqueror (1988), The Best Intentions (1992)
|-
| Emir Kusturica
| Yugoslavia
| When Father Was Away on Business (1985), Underground (1995)
|-
| Shōhei Imamura
| Japan
| The Ballad of Narayama (1983), The Eel (1997)
|-
| Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
| Belgium
| Rosetta (1999), L'Enfant (2005)
|-
| Michael Haneke
| Austria
| The White Ribbon (2009), Amour (2012)
|-
| Ken Loach
| United Kingdom
| The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), I, Daniel Blake (2016)
|-
| Ruben Östlund
| Sweden
| The Square (2017), Triangle of Sadness (2022)
|-
| Cristian Mungiu
| Romania
| 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Fjord (2026)
|}
Honorary Palme d'Or
At the 1997 edition by the festival's organizing committee, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Festival as the "Palme des Palmes", a homage to Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman who had never been awarded a competitive Palme.
Since 2002, the festival awards the prize regularly to individuals who have achieved a notable body of work but who had never won a competitive Palme d'Or. In 2024, Studio Ghibli became the first and only studio to win it.
See also
- List of actors who have appeared in multiple Palme d'Or winners
- Golden Bear, the highest prize awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival
- Golden Lion, the highest prize awarded at the Venice Film Festival
- Short Film Palme d'Or
References
External links
- Winners, from 1976 to the present, by gross box-office
- Festival-cannes.com
- Cannes Film Festival IMDb