Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director

Award presented annually by the Cannes Film Festival

Best Director Award

Prix de la mise en scène (French)

The 2024 recipient: Miguel Gomes

Awarded for| Best Achievement in Direction
Country| France
Presented by| Cannes Film Festival
First awarded| 1946
Currently held by| Miguel Gomes
Grand Tour (2024)
Website| www.festival-cannes.com/en/

The Best Director Award (French: Prix de la mise en scène) is an award presented annually at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival.

At the 1st Cannes Film Festival held in 1946, René Clément was the first winner of this award for his work on The Battle of the Rails, and Miguel Gomes is the most recent winner in this category for his work on Grand Tour at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in 2024.

## History

[edit]

The award was first presented in 1946. The prize was not awarded on 12 occasions (1947, 1953–54, 1960, 1962–64, 1971, 1973–74, 1977, and 1980).

The festival was not held at all in 1948, 1950, and 2020. In 1968, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the May 1968 events in France.

Also, the jury vote was tied, and the prize was shared by two directors on seven occasions (1955, 1969, 1975, 1983, 2001–02, and 2016). Joel Coen of the Coen brothers has received the most awards in this category, with three. One directing team has shared the award: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for Young Ahmed (2019). Yuliya Solntseva became the first woman to win the award, for Chronicle of Flaming Years (1961).

The winner of the Best Director Award rarely wins the Palme d'Or, the main prize given at the festival, which is also awarded to the director of the winning film. This happened only twice: Joel Coen won both awards for Barton Fink in 1991;[1] and Gus Van Sant won for Elephant in 2003.[2]

## Winners

[edit]

Year  | Director(s)  | English Title  | Original Title

|
|
|

1940s
1946 |  René Clément | The Battle of the Rails | La Bataille du rail
1949 | The Walls of Malapaga | Au-delà des grilles
1950s
1951 | / Luis Buñuel | Los Olvidados
1952 |  Christian Jaque | Fanfan la Tulipe
1955 |  Jules Dassin | Rififi | Du rififi chez les hommes
Sergei Vasilyev | Heroes of Shipka | Герои Шипки
1956 |  Sergei Yutkevich | Othello | Отелло
1957 |  Robert Bresson | A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth | Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut
1958 |  Ingmar Bergman | Brink of Life | Nära livet
1959 |  François Truffaut | The 400 Blows | Les Quatre Cents Coups
1960s
1961 |  Yuliya Solntseva | Chronicle of Flaming Years | Повесть пламенных лет
1965 |  Liviu Ciulei | Forest of the Hanged | Pădurea spânzuraților
1966 |  Sergei Yutkevich | Lenin in Poland | Ленин в Польше
1967 |  Ferenc Kósa | Ten Thousand Days | Tízezer nap
1969 |  Glauber Rocha | Antonio das Mortes | O Dragão da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro
Vojtěch Jasný | All My Compatriots | Všichni dobří rodáci
1970s
1970 |  John Boorman | Leo the Last
1972 |  Miklós Jancsó | Red Psalm | Még kér a nép
1975 |  Michel Brault | Orders | Les Ordres
/ Costa-Gavras | Special Section | Section spéciale
1976 |  Ettore Scola | Down and Dirty | Brutti, sporchi e cattivi
1978 |  Nagisa Ōshima | Empire of Passion | 愛の亡霊
1979 |  Terrence Malick | Days of Heaven
1980s
1982 |  Werner Herzog | Fitzcarraldo
1983 |  Robert Bresson | L'Argent
Andrei Tarkovsky | Nostalghia
1984 |  Bertrand Tavernier | A Sunday in the Country | Un dimanche à la campagne
1985 |  André Téchiné | Rendez-vous
1986 |  Martin Scorsese | After Hours
1987 |  Wim Wenders | Wings of Desire | Der Himmel über Berlin
1988 |  Fernando Solanas | Sur
1989 |  Emir Kusturica | Time of the Gypsies | Дом за вешање
1990s
1990 |  Pavel Lungin | Taxi Blues | Такси-блюз
1991 |  Joel Coen | Barton Fink
1992 |  Robert Altman | The Player
1993 |  Mike Leigh | Naked
1994 |  Nanni Moretti | Caro diario
1995 |  Mathieu Kassovitz | La Haine
1996 |  Joel Coen | Fargo
1997 |  Wong Kar-wai | Happy Together | 春光乍洩
1998 |  John Boorman | The General
1999 |  Pedro Almodóvar | All About My Mother | Todo sobre mi madre
2000s
2000 |  Edward Yang | Yi Yi | 一一
2001 |  Joel Coen | The Man Who Wasn't There
David Lynch | Mulholland Drive
2002 |  Paul Thomas Anderson | Punch-Drunk Love
Im Kwon-taek | Chi-hwa-seon | 취화선
2003 |  Gus Van Sant | Elephant
2004 |  Tony Gatlif | Exils
2005 | / Michael Haneke | Caché
2006 |  Alejandro González Iñárritu | Babel
2007 |  Julian Schnabel | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
2008 |  Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Three Monkeys | Üç Maymun
2009 |  Brillante Mendoza | Butchered | Kinatay
2010s
2010 |  Mathieu Amalric | On Tour | Tournée
2011 |  Nicolas Winding Refn | Drive
2012 |  Carlos Reygadas | Post Tenebras Lux
2013 |  Amat Escalante | Heli
2014 |  Bennett Miller | Foxcatcher
2015 |  Hou Hsiao-hsien | The Assassin | 刺客聶隱娘
2016 |  Olivier Assayas | Personal Shopper
Cristian Mungiu | Graduation[3] | Bacalaureat
2017 |  Sofia Coppola | The Beguiled[4]
2018 |  Paweł Pawlikowski | Cold War | Zimna wojna
2019 |  Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne | Young Ahmed | Le Jeune Ahmed
2020s
2021 |  Leos Carax | Annette[5]
2022 |  Park Chan-wook | Decision to Leave[6] | 헤어질 결심
2023 | / Tran Anh Hung | The Pot-au-Feu[7] | La Passion de Dodin Bouffant
2024 |  Miguel Gomes | Grand Tour

## Multiple winners

[edit]

The following individuals received two or more Best Director awards:

Number of Wins  | Directors  | Nationality  | Films

|
|
|

3  | Joel Coen | United States  | Barton Fink (1991),
Fargo (1996),
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
2  | René Clément | France  | The Battle of the Rails (1946),
The Walls of Malapaga (1949)
Robert Bresson | A Man Escaped (1957),
L'Argent (1983)
Sergei Yutkevich | Soviet Union  | Othello (1956),
Lenin in Poland (1966)
John Boorman | United Kingdom  | Leo the Last (1970),
The General (1998)

## See also

[edit]

* Silver Bear for Best Director
* Silver Lion

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Coen brothers to jointly head Cannes jury - BBC News
2. ^ CANNES FILM FESTIVAL; Van Sant's 'Elephant' Receives Palme d'Or - New York Times
3. ^ Who Won and Who Lost at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival|Vogue
4. ^ Cannes 2017: Sofia Coppola Wins Best Director and Makes History|IndieWire
5. ^ Cannes Film Festival 2021: The List Of Winners - Forbes
6. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (28 May 2022). "Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced – Live". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
7. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (28 May 2022). "Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced – Live". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 May 2022.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners.

* Official website
* Cannes Film Festival at the Internet Movie Database
* Top 25 Movies That Won Best Director At Cannes - Taste of Cinema

* v
* t
* e

Cannes Film Festival

Awards|

* Palme d'Or
* Grand Prix
* Jury Prize
* Best Director
* Best Actor
* Best Actress
* Best Screenplay
* Un Certain Regard
* Short Film Palme d'Or
* Caméra d'Or
* Cinéfondation

Awards given
by independent entities|

* Prix de la FIPRESCI
* François Chalais Prize
* Trophée Chopard
* CST Award for Best Artist-Technician
* L'Œil d'or
* Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
* Palm Dog Award
* Queer Palm
* Cannes Soundtrack Award
* Pierre Angénieux Excellens in Cinematography

Parallel events|

* Directors' Fortnight
* Critics' Week
* Marché du Film

By year|

* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
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* 2010
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* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

* List of jury presidents
* List of jury members
* List of records

* v
* t
* e

Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director

1946–1975|

* René Clément (1946)
* René Clément (1949)
* Luis Buñuel (1951)
* Christian-Jaque (1952)
* Jules Dassin / Sergei Vasilyev (1955)
* Sergei Yutkevich (1956)
* Robert Bresson (1957)
* Ingmar Bergman (1958)
* François Truffaut (1959)
* Yuliya Solntseva (1961)
* Liviu Ciulei (1965)
* Sergei Yutkevich (1966)
* Ferenc Kósa (1967)
* Vojtěch Jasný / Glauber Rocha (1969)
* John Boorman (1970)
* Miklós Jancsó (1972)
* Michel Brault / Costa-Gavras (1975)

1976–2000|

* Ettore Scola (1976)
* Nagisa Ōshima (1978)
* Terrence Malick (1979)
* Werner Herzog (1982)
* Robert Bresson / Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
* Bertrand Tavernier (1984)
* André Téchiné (1985)
* Martin Scorsese (1986)
* Wim Wenders (1987)
* Fernando Solanas (1988)
* Emir Kusturica (1989)
* Pavel Lungin (1990)
* Joel Coen (1991)
* Robert Altman (1992)
* Mike Leigh (1993)
* Nanni Moretti (1994)
* Mathieu Kassovitz (1995)
* Joel Coen (1996)
* Wong Kar-wai (1997)
* John Boorman (1998)
* Pedro Almodóvar (1999)
* Edward Yang (2000)

2001–present|

* Joel Coen / David Lynch (2001)
* Paul Thomas Anderson / Im Kwon-taek (2002)
* Gus Van Sant (2003)
* Tony Gatlif (2004)
* Michael Haneke (2005)
* Alejandro González Iñárritu (2006)
* Julian Schnabel (2007)
* Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2008)
* Brillante Mendoza (2009)
* Mathieu Amalric (2010)
* Nicolas Winding Refn (2011)
* Carlos Reygadas (2012)
* Amat Escalante (2013)
* Bennett Miller (2014)
* Hou Hsiao-hsien (2015)
* Olivier Assayas / Cristian Mungiu (2016)
* Sofia Coppola (2017)
* Paweł Pawlikowski (2018)
* Dardenne brothers (2019)
* Leos Carax (2021)
* Park Chan-wook (2022)
* Tran Anh Hung (2023)
* Miguel Gomes (2024)

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