The Pianist (2002 film)

Biopic directed by Roman Polanski

"Le Pianiste" redirects here. Not to be confused with the 1993 film, The Piano. For the 2001 French film originally titled La Pianiste, see The Piano Teacher (film).

The Pianist

US Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Roman Polanski
Screenplay by| Ronald Harwood
Based on| The Pianist
by Władysław Szpilman
Produced by|

* Roman Polanski
* Robert Benmussa
* Alain Sarde
* Gene Gutowski

Starring|

* Adrien Brody
* Thomas Kretschmann
* Frank Finlay
* Maureen Lipman
* Emilia Fox
* Ed Stoppard
* Julia Rayner
* Jessica Kate Meyer

Cinematography| Paweł Edelman
Edited by| Hervé de Luze
Music by| Wojciech Kilar

Production
companies

* Canal+
* Studio Babelsberg
* StudioCanal

Distributed by|

* BAC Films (France)[1]
* Tobis StudioCanal[2] (Germany)[3]
* Syrena Entertainment Group (Poland)[1]
* Pathé Distribution (United Kingdom)[3][4]

Release dates

* 24 May 2002 (2002-05-24) (Cannes)
* 6 September 2002 (2002-09-06) (Poland)
* 25 September 2002 (2002-09-25) (France)
* 24 October 2002 (2002-10-24) (Germany)
* 24 January 2003 (2003-01-24) (United Kingdom)

Running time

| 149 minutes[4]
Countries|

* France
* Germany
* Poland
* United Kingdom

Languages|

* English
* German

Budget| $35 million[5]
Box office| $120.1 million[5]

The Pianist is a 2002 biographical film produced and directed by Roman Polanski, with a script by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody.[6] It is based on the autobiographical book The Pianist (1946), a memoir by the Polish-Jewish pianist, composer and Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman.[7] The film was a co-production by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

The Pianist premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2002, where it won the Palme d'Or, and went into wide release that September; the film received widespread critical acclaim, with critics lauding Polanski's direction, Brody's performance and Harwood's screenplay.[8] At the 75th Academy Awards, the film won for Best Director (Polanski), Best Adapted Screenplay (Harwood), and Best Actor (Brody), and was nominated for four others, including Best Picture (it lost to Chicago). It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film and BAFTA Award for Best Direction in 2003, and seven French Césars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Brody.[9] It appeared in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century in 2016.

## Plot

[edit]

In September 1939, Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, is playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the station is besieged during Nazi Germany's bombing of Warsaw. After escaping, Szpilman and his family prepare to leave the city when they learn that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. Relieved at the news, Szpilman and his family choose to stay in the city and celebrate. Their celebrations are short-lived as Warsaw becomes part of the Nazi-controlled General Government. Jews are soon prevented from working or owning businesses and are also forced to wear blue Star of David armbands. Szpilman and his family sell many of their material belongings, including his piano, in order to make enough zlotys to survive.

By November 1940, Szpilman and his family are forced from their home into the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto. They struggle under the ghetto's squalid conditions, with disease and starvation rampant. Szpilman finds work by performing in a cafè frequented by upper-class Jews, who smuggle in forbidden goods in order to live comfortably. On one occasion, he sees a young boy being savagely beaten by a guard while trying to crawl through a gap in the ghetto wall; the boy is dead by the time Szpilman can pull him through. During dinner one evening, Szpilman and his family witness the SS murder an entire family in an apartment across the street during a round-up, including throwing an elderly wheelchair-bound man from the window.

On 16 August 1942, Szpilman and his family are to be transported to Treblinka extermination camp as part of Operation Reinhard. At the Umschlagplatz, Szpilman is about to board the train when a friend from the Jewish Ghetto Police separates him away from his family and allows him to escape. Szpilman is unable to save the rest of his family, and they are sent away to the camps. He later becomes a slave laborer and learns of an upcoming Jewish revolt. He helps the resistance by smuggling weapons into the ghetto hidden inside bags of food, on one occasion narrowly avoiding a suspicious guard. Szpilman eventually manages to escape and goes into hiding with help from a non-Jewish friend, actor Andrzej Bogucki and his wife Janina Godlewska, who provide him with an apartment where he can hide.

In April 1943, Szpilman watches from his apartment as the ghetto uprising unfolds and then ultimately fails. A female neighbor discovers Szpilman and attempts to report him, but he manages to escape and meets his old friend Dorota, whose husband provides him with another hiding place in the middle of the German quarter. The new apartment has a piano in it, but he is compelled to keep quiet in order not to get discovered. Szpilman begins to starve and eventually suffers from jaundice. Dorota and her husband visit Szpilman for the last time, providing him with a doctor to treat his illness.

By August 1944, Szpilman recovers, and the Warsaw Uprising begins. The Home Army attacks the Schutzpolizei Hospital across the street from the apartment, while Szpilman's apartment building is destroyed in the fighting, forcing him to flee and hide in the now abandoned hospital. Over the following months, Warsaw is destroyed.

Upon noticing German troops burning the hospital with flamethrowers, Szpilman flees and wanders through the city's ruins. He reaches an empty house where he finds a can of pickled cucumbers. While trying to open the can, Szpilman is discovered by Wehrmacht captain Wilm Hosenfeld, who learns that he is a pianist. He asks Szpilman to play on a grand piano in the house. The decrepit Szpilman manages to play Chopin's "Ballade No. 1 in G minor". Hosenfeld lets him hide in the attic of the house and supplies food for him.

In January 1945, as the Germans retreat from the Soviet offensive, Hosenfeld meets Szpilman for the last time, promising he will listen to him on Polish Radio after the war. Hosenfeld leaves Szpilman with a large supply of food and his greatcoat to keep warm. After Warsaw is liberated, Szpilman narrowly survives an ambush by People's Army troops who mistake him for a German because of the coat.

Several months later, surviving concentration camp inmates verbally abuse captured German soldiers being held at a Soviet POW camp, one lamenting over his former career as a violinist. Hosenfeld, one of the prisoners, approaches the violinist and asks if he knows Szpilman, which he confirms. Hosenfeld asks the violinist if Szpilman can help rescue him. The violinist later brings Szpilman back to the site only to find it abandoned. Szpilman resumes his career, performing Chopin's "Grande polonaise" with an orchestra to a large, prestigious audience.

A textual epilogue notes that Szpilman died in 2000 at the age of 88, while Hosenfeld died in Soviet captivity in 1952.

## Cast

[edit]

Adrien Brody portrays Władysław Szpilman in The Pianist.

* Adrien Brody as Władysław Szpilman
* Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
* Frank Finlay as Samuel Szpilman
* Maureen Lipman as Edwarda Szpilman
* Emilia Fox as Dorota
* Ed Stoppard as Henryk Szpilman
* Julia Rayner as Regina Szpilman
* Jessica Kate Meyer as Halina Szpilman
* Ronan Vibert as Andrzej Bogucki
* Ruth Platt as Janina Bogucki
* Andrew Tiernan as Antek Szałas
* Michał Żebrowski as Jurek
* Roy Smiles as Itzhak Heller
* Richard Ridings as Mr. Lipa
* Daniel Caltagirone as Majorek
* Valentine Pelka as Michal Dzkiewicz, Dorota's Husband
* Zbigniew Zamachowski as Customer with Coins
* Krzysztof Pieczyński as Marek Gębczyński
* Ireneusz Machnicki as SS Officer
* Cezary Krajewski as SS Officer

## Production

[edit]

### Development and casting

[edit]

Photograph of Władysław Szpilman

The story had deep connections with director Roman Polanski because he escaped from the Kraków Ghetto as a child after the death of his mother. He ended up living in a Polish farmer's barn until the war's end. His father almost died in the camps, but they reunited after the end of World War II.[10]

Joseph Fiennes was Polanski's first choice for the lead role, but he turned it down due to a previous commitment to a theatrical role.[11] Over 1,400 actors auditioned for the role of Szpilman at a casting call in London, but Polanski was unsatisfied with all who tried. Eventually, Polanski watched Harrison's Flowers (2000), and then Polanski decided to offer Adrien Brody the leading role during their first meeting in Paris.[12][13]

### Filming

[edit]

Mała Street in Warsaw's Praga-Północ district used for filming of The Pianist

Principal photography on The Pianist began on 9 February 2001 in Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam, Germany. The Warsaw Ghetto and the surrounding city were recreated on the backlot of Babelsberg Studio as they would have looked during the war. Old Soviet Army barracks were used to create the ruined city, as they were going to be destroyed anyway.[14]

The first scenes of the film were shot at the old army barracks. Soon after, the film crew moved to a villa in Potsdam, which served as the house where Szpilman meets Hosenfeld. On 2 March 2001, filming then moved to an abandoned Soviet military hospital in Beelitz, Germany. The scenes that featured German soldiers destroying a Warsaw hospital with flamethrowers were filmed there. On 15 March, filming finally moved to Babelsberg Studios. The first scene shot at the studio was the complex and technically demanding scene in which Szpilman witnesses the ghetto uprising.[14]

Filming at the studios ended on 26 March, and moved to Warsaw on 29 March. The rundown district of Praga was chosen for filming because of its abundance of original buildings. The art department built onto these original buildings, re-creating World War II-era Poland with signs and posters from the period. Additional filming also took place around Warsaw. The Umschlagplatz scene where Szpilman, his family, and hundreds of other Jews wait to be taken to the extermination camps was filmed at the National Defence University of Warsaw.[15]

Principal photography ended in July 2001, and was followed by months of post-production in Paris.[13]

### Music

[edit]

Further information: The Pianist (soundtrack)

* The piano piece heard at the beginning of the film is Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Lento con gran espressione, Op. posth.
* The piano piece that is heard being played by a next door neighbour while Szpilman was in hiding at an apartment is also an arrangement of "Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą".
* The piano music heard in the abandoned house when Szpilman had just discovered a hiding place in the attic is the Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata) by Beethoven. It was later revealed that German officer Hosenfeld was the pianist. The German composition juxtaposed with the mainly Polish/Chopin selection of Szpilman.
* The piano piece played when Szpilman is confronted by Hosenfeld is Chopin's Ballade in G minor, Op. 23, but the version played in the movie was shortened (the entire piece lasts about 10 minutes).
* The cello piece heard at the middle of the film, played by Dorota, is the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1.
* The piano piece heard at the end of the film, played with an orchestra, is Chopin's Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22.
* Shots of Szpilman's hands playing the piano in close-up were performed by Polish classical pianist Janusz Olejniczak, who also performed on the soundtrack.
* Since Polanski wanted the film to be as realistic as possible, any scene showing Brody playing was actually his playing, overdubbed by recordings performed by Olejniczak. In order for Brody's playing to look like it was at the level of Szpilman's, he spent many months prior to and during the filming practising so that his keystrokes on the piano would convince viewers that Brody himself was playing.[16]

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical response

[edit]

The Pianist was widely acclaimed by critics, with Brody's performance, Harwood's screenplay, and Polanski's direction receiving special praise. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 190 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Well-acted and dramatically moving, The Pianist is Polanski's best work in years."[17] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[18]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, noting that, "perhaps that impassive quality reflects what [director Roman] Polanski wants to say. ... By showing Szpilman as a survivor, but not a fighter or a hero—as a man who does all he can to save himself, but would have died without enormous good luck and the kindness of a few non-Jews—Polanski is reflecting ... his own deepest feelings: that he survived, but need not have, and that his mother died and left a wound that had never healed."[19]

Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune said that the film "is the best dramatic feature I've seen on the Holocaust experience, so powerful a statement on war, inhumanity, and art's redemption that it may signal Polanski's artistic redemption". He later said that the film "illustrates that theme and proves that Polanski's own art has survived the chaos of his life—and the hell that war and bigotry once made of it".[20]

Richard Schickel of Time magazine called it a "raw, unblinkable film", and said that "we admire this film for its harsh objectivity and refusal to seek our tears, our sympathies."[21]

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said that the film "contains moments of irony, of ambiguity, and of strange beauty, as when we finally get a look at Warsaw and see a panorama of destruction, a world of color bombed into black-and-white devastation". He also said that, "in the course of showing us a struggle for survival, in all its animal simplicity, Polanski also gives us humanity, in all its complexity."[22]

A.O. Scott of The New York Times said that Szpilman "comes to resemble one of Samuel Beckett's gaunt existential clowns, shambling through a barren, bombed-out landscape clutching a jar of pickles. He is like the walking punchline to a cosmic jest of unfathomable cruelty." He also felt that Szpilman's encounter, in the war's last days, with a music-loving German officer, "courted sentimentality by associating the love of art with moral decency, an equation the Nazis themselves, steeped in Beethoven and Wagner, definitively refuted".[23]

In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 140.[24]

### Accolades

[edit]

Main article: List of accolades received by The Pianist

## Home media

[edit]

The Pianist was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on DVD in the US on 27 May 2003 in a double-sided disc Special Edition, with the film on one side and the featurette "A Story of Survival" on the other. The making-of featurette included interviews with Brody, Polanski, and Harwood, and clips of Szpilman playing the piano.[25] The Polish DVD included an audio commentary track by production designer Starski and director of photography Edelman.

Universal released the film on HD-DVD on 8 January 2008 with the featurette "A Story of Survival".[26]

Optimum Home Entertainment released The Pianist to the European market on Blu-ray as part of their StudioCanal Collection on 13 September 2010,[27] the film's second release on Blu-ray. The first release was troublesome due to issues with subtitles; the initial BD lacked subtitles for spoken German dialogue. Optimum later rectified this,[28] but the initial release also lacked notable special features. The StudioCanal Collection version includes the featurette "A Story of Survival", as well as several interviews with the makers of the film and Szpilman's relatives.[29]

Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray in the US for the first time on 13 July 2021.[30]

The film was completely restored in 2023 from the original negative by StudioCanal and DI Factory, with the assistance of the film's cinematographer Paweł Edelman.[31] It was released on 4K UHD by StudioCanal in Germany on 21 September 2023, in France on 27 September 2023 and in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2023.

## See also

[edit]

* Robinson Crusoes of Warsaw – Szpilman was one of the most notable persons to remain in Warsaw after its destruction by Nazi Germany and before its liberation by the Red Army in January 1945.
* List of Holocaust films

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "The Pianist (2001)". UniFrance. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
2. ^ Blaney, Martin (29 November 2002). "Germany's Tobis breaks away from StudioCanal". Screen International. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
3. ^ a b "Film #18808: The Pianist". Lumiere. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
4. ^ a b "THE PIANIST (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 3 July 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
5. ^ a b "The Pianist". Box Office Mojo. 2002. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
6. ^ Hare, William (2004). LA Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels. Jefferson, North Carolina: Macfarland and Company. p. 207\. ISBN 0-7864-1801-X.
7. ^ Szpilman, Wladyslaw. "The Pianist". Szpilman.net. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
8. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Pianist". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
9. ^ "Official Site - The Pianist - Awards & Nominations". FocusFeatures. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
10. ^ "Roman Raymond Polański". Retrieved 21 August 2016.
11. ^ "Xan Brooks talks to Joseph Fiennes about Hollywood and the theatre". TheGuardian.com. 21 September 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
12. ^ "Adrien Brody on Winning the Oscar, Catching a Train with Wes Anderson, and Making Music With Popcorn". Variety. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
13. ^ a b "The Pianist - Movie by Roman Polanski". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011.
14. ^ a b "Anatomy of a masterpiece". 8 May 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
15. ^ "In the ghetto with Polanski". TheGuardian.com. 22 June 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
16. ^ "A review of music from the motion picture The Pianist". August 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
17. ^ "The Pianist (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
18. ^ "The Pianist reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
19. ^ Ebert, Roger (3 January 2003). "The Pianist". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
20. ^ Wilmington, Michael (5 January 2003). "Polanski's 'Pianist' may put 'profligate dwarf' in better light". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
21. ^ Schickel, Richard (15 December 2002). "Have a Very Leo Noel". Time. p. 4\. Archived from the original on 29 March 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
22. ^ LaSalle, Mick (3 January 2003). "Masterpiece / Polanski's 'The Pianist' is a true account of one man's survival in the Warsaw ghetto". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
23. ^ Scott, A.O. (27 December 2002). "Surviving the Warsaw Ghetto Against Steep Odds". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
24. ^ "Readers Choose Their Top Movies of the 21st Century". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
25. ^ "The Pianist- Amazon". Amazon. 27 May 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
26. ^ "The Pianist- High def digest". Retrieved 4 September 2016.
27. ^ "StudioCanal Collection". Retrieved 24 June 2010.
28. ^ "Problems with initial BD release". Retrieved 1 August 2010.
29. ^ "The Pianist on BD". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
30. ^ "The Pianist". Shout! Factory. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
31. ^ Thompson, David. "The Pianist". IlCinema Ritrovato. Retrieved 11 March 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* The Pianist at IMDb
* The Pianist at Box Office Mojo
* The Pianist at Rotten Tomatoes
* The Pianist at Metacritic
* Wladyslaw Szpilman's personal Website: The Pianist \- The book

Awards

Preceded by

Amélie

|  Goya Award for Best European Film
2002  | Succeeded by

Good Bye, Lenin!

* v
* t
* e

Roman Polanski

* Accolades
* Bibliography
* Filmography

Feature films|

* Knife in the Water (1962)
* Repulsion (1965)
* Cul-de-Sac (1966)
* The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
* Rosemary's Baby (1968)
* Macbeth (1971)
* What? (1972)
* Chinatown (1974)
* The Tenant (1976)
* Tess (1979)
* Pirates (1986)
* Frantic (1988)
* Bitter Moon (1992)
* Death and the Maiden (1994)
* The Ninth Gate (1999)
* The Pianist (2002)
* Oliver Twist (2005)
* The Ghost Writer (2010)
* Carnage (2011)
* Venus in Fur (2013)
* Based on a True Story (2017)
* An Officer and a Spy (2019)
* The Palace (2023)

Short films|

* A Toothy Smile (1957)
* Rozbijemy zabawę (1957)
* Morderstwo (1957)
* Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958)
* Lampa (1959)
* When Angels Fall (1959)
* The Fat and the Lean (1961)
* Ssaki (1962)
* "La rivière de diamants" in The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (1964)
* "Cinema Erotique" in To Each His Own Cinema (2007)
* A Therapy (2012)

Family|

* Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass (first wife)
* Sharon Tate (second wife)
* Emmanuelle Seigner (third wife)
* Morgane Polanski (daughter)

Related|

* Roman Polanski sexual abuse case
* Mia and Roman
* "Roman P"
* Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
* Polanski Unauthorized
* Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
* The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski
* Tate–LaBianca murders

Awards for The Pianist

* v
* t
* e

BAFTA Award for Best Film

Best Film
from any Source
1947-1967|

* The Best Years of Our Lives (1947)
* Hamlet (1948)
* Bicycle Thieves (1949)
* All About Eve (1950)
* La Ronde (1951)
* The Sound Barrier (1952)
* Forbidden Games (1953)
* The Wages of Fear (1954)
* Richard III (1955)
* Gervaise (1956)
* The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
* Room at the Top (1958)
* Ben-Hur (1959)
* The Apartment (1960)
* Ballad of a Soldier (1961)
* The Hustler (1961)
* Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
* Tom Jones (1963)
* Dr. Strangelove (1964)
* My Fair Lady (1965)
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
* A Man for All Seasons (1967)

Best Film
1968-present|

* The Graduate (1968)
* Midnight Cowboy (1969)
* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970)
* Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
* Cabaret (1972)
* Day for Night (1973)
* Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
* Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1975)
* One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
* Annie Hall (1977)
* Julia (1978)
* Manhattan (1979)
* The Elephant Man (1980)
* Chariots of Fire (1981)
* Gandhi (1982)
* Educating Rita (1983)
* The Killing Fields (1984)
* The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
* A Room with a View (1986)
* Jean de Florette (1987)
* The Last Emperor (1988)
* Dead Poets Society (1989)
* Goodfellas (1990)
* The Commitments (1991)
* Howards End (1992)
* Schindler's List (1993)
* Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
* Sense and Sensibility (1995)
* The English Patient (1996)
* The Full Monty (1997)
* Shakespeare in Love (1998)
* American Beauty (1999)
* Gladiator (2000)
* The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
* The Aviator (2004)
* Brokeback Mountain (2005)
* The Queen (2006)
* Atonement (2007)
* Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
* The Hurt Locker (2009)
* The King's Speech (2010)
* The Artist (2011)
* Argo (2012)
* 12 Years a Slave (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* The Revenant (2015)
* La La Land (2016)
* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
* Roma (2018)
* 1917 (2019)
* Nomadland (2020)
* The Power of the Dog (2021)
* All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
* Oppenheimer (2023)
* Conclave (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film

* Raging Bull (1980)
* Pixote (1981)
* E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
* The Night of the Shooting Stars (1983)
* The Killing Fields (1984)
* Ran (1985)
* Blue Velvet (1986)
* Hope and Glory (1987)
* Bull Durham (1988)
* Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
* Goodfellas (1990)
* The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
* Unforgiven (1992)
* Schindler's List (1993)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* Sense and Sensibility (1995)
* Trainspotting (1996)
* L.A. Confidential (1997)
* Out of Sight (1998)
* Three Kings (1999)
* Almost Famous (2000)
* Mulholland Drive (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* Mystic River (2003)
* Sideways (2004)
* Brokeback Mountain (2005)
* The Departed (2006)
* No Country for Old Men (2007)
* WALL-E / Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
* The Hurt Locker (2009)
* The Social Network (2010)
* The Artist (2011)
* Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
* 12 Years a Slave (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* Spotlight (2015)
* La La Land (2016)
* Phantom Thread (2017)
* If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
* Little Women (2019)
* Nomadland (2020)
* Drive My Car (2021)
* Return to Seoul (2022)
* The Holdovers (2023)
* Anora (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or

1939–1975|

* Union Pacific (1939)
* No festival held (1940–1945)
* Brief Encounter (1946)
* The Last Chance (1946)
* The Lost Weekend (1946)
* María Candelaria (1946)
* Men Without Wings (1946)
* Neecha Nagar (1946)
* Pastoral Symphony (1946)
* The Red Meadows (1946)
* Rome, Open City (1946)
* Torment (1946)
* The Turning Point (1946)
* Antoine and Antoinette (1947)
* Crossfire (1947)
* The Damned (1947)
* Dumbo (1947)
* Ziegfeld Follies (1947)
* No festival held (1948)
* The Third Man (1949)
* No festival held (1950)
* Miracle in Milan (1951)
* Miss Julie (1951)
* Othello (1951)
* Two Cents Worth of Hope (1952)
* The Wages of Fear (1953)
* Gate of Hell (1954)
* Marty (1955)
* The Silent World (1956)
* Friendly Persuasion (1957)
* The Cranes Are Flying (1958)
* Black Orpheus (1959)
* La Dolce Vita (1960)
* The Long Absence (1961)
* Viridiana (1961)
* O Pagador de Promessas (1962)
* The Leopard (1963)
* The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
* The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965)
* The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)
* A Man and a Woman (1966)
* Blowup (1967)
* Festival cancelled while in progress (1968)
* if.... (1969)
* M*A*S*H (1970)
* The Go-Between (1971)
* The Mattei Affair (1972)
* The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1972)
* The Hireling (1973)
* Scarecrow (1973)
* The Conversation (1974)
* Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975)

1976–2000|

* Taxi Driver (1976)
* Padre Padrone (1977)
* The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
* Apocalypse Now (1979)
* The Tin Drum (1979)
* All That Jazz (1980)
* Kagemusha (1980)
* Man of Iron (1981)
* Missing (1982)
* Yol (1982)
* The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
* Paris, Texas (1984)
* When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
* The Mission (1986)
* Under the Sun of Satan (1987)
* Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
* Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
* Wild at Heart (1990)
* Barton Fink (1991)
* The Best Intentions (1992)
* Farewell My Concubine (1993)
* The Piano (1993)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* Underground (1995)
* Secrets & Lies (1996)
* The Eel (1997)
* Taste of Cherry (1997)
* Eternity and a Day (1998)
* Rosetta (1999)
* Dancer in the Dark (2000)

2001–present|

* The Son's Room (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* Elephant (2003)
* Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
* L'Enfant (2005)
* The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
* 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
* The Class (2008)
* The White Ribbon (2009)
* Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
* The Tree of Life (2011)
* Amour (2012)
* Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
* Winter Sleep (2014)
* Dheepan (2015)
* I, Daniel Blake (2016)
* The Square (2017)
* Shoplifters (2018)
* Parasite (2019)
* No festival held (2020)
* Titane (2021)
* Triangle of Sadness (2022)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
* Anora (2024)
* It Was Just an Accident (2025)

* v
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* e

César Award for Best Film

* Le vieux fusil (1976)
* Monsieur Klein (1977)
* Providence (1978)
* L'argent des autres (1979)
* Tess (1980)
* The Last Metro (1981)
* Quest for Fire (1982)
* La Balance (1983)
* Le Bal and À Nos Amours (1984, tie)
* My New Partner (1985)
* Three Men and a Cradle (1986)
* Thérèse (1987)
* Au revoir les enfants (1988)
* Camille Claudel (1989)
* Too Beautiful for You (1990)
* Cyrano de Bergerac (1991)
* Tous les Matins du Monde (1992)
* Savage Nights (1993)
* Smoking/No Smoking (1994)
* Wild Reeds (1995)
* La Haine (1996)
* Ridicule (1997)
* Same Old Song (1998)
* The Dreamlife of Angels (1999)
* Venus Beauty Institute (2000)
* The Taste of Others (2001)
* Amélie (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* The Barbarian Invasions (2004)
* Games of Love and Chance (2005)
* The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2006)
* Lady Chatterley (2007)
* The Secret of the Grain (2008)
* Séraphine (2009)
* A Prophet (2010)
* Of Gods and Men (2011)
* The Artist (2012)
* Amour (2013)
* Me, Myself and Mum (2014)
* Timbuktu (2015)
* Fatima (2016)
* Elle (2017)
* BPM (Beats per Minute) (2018)
* Custody (2019)
* Les Misérables (2020)
* Bye Bye Morons (2021)
* Lost Illusions (2022)
* The Night of the 12th (2023)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2024)
* Emilia Pérez (2025)

* v
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* e

David di Donatello Award for Best International Film

1950s–1960s|

* The Prince and the Showgirl (1958)
* Gigi (1959)
* Ben-Hur (1961)
* Judgment at Nuremberg (1962)
* The Longest Day (1963)
* Lawrence of Arabia (1964)
* My Fair Lady (1965)
* The Agony and the Ecstasy (1966)
* Doctor Zhivago (1967)
* Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1968)
* 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969)

1970–2000|

* The Lion in Winter (1970)
* Ryan's Daughter (1971)
* The French Connection (1972)
* The Godfather (1973)
* Jesus Christ Superstar (1974)
* The Towering Inferno (1975)
* Nashville (1976)
* Marathon Man (1977)
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978)
* The Wishing Tree (1979)
* Kramer vs. Kramer (1980)
* Mephisto (1982)
* Gandhi (1983)
* Fanny and Alexander (1984)
* Amadeus (1985)
* Out of Africa (1986)
* A Room with a View (1987)
* Au revoir les enfants (1988)
* Rain Man (1989)
* Dead Poets Society (1990)
* Cyrano de Bergerac (1991)
* Raise the Red Lantern (1992)
* A Heart in Winter (1993)
* In the Name of the Father (1994)
* Pulp Fiction (1995)
* Nelly and Mr. Arnaud (1996)
* Ridicule (1997)
* The Full Monty (1998)
* Train of Life (1999)
* All About My Mother (2000)

2001–present|

* The Taste of Others (2001)
* The Man Who Wasn't There (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* The Barbarian Invasions (2004)
* Million Dollar Baby (2005)
* Crash (2006)
* Babel (2007)
* No Country for Old Men (2008)
* Gran Torino (2009)
* Inglourious Basterds (2010)
* Hereafter (2011)
* A Separation (2012)
* Django Unchained (2013)
* The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
* Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2015)
* Bridge of Spies (2016)
* Nocturnal Animals (2017)
* Dunkirk (2018)
* Roma (2019)
* Parasite (2020)
* 1917 (2021)
* Belfast (2022)
* The Fabelmans (2023)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2024)
* Anora (2025)

* v
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* e

Golden Eagle Award for Best Foreign Language Film

National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia

* Amélie (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* The Passion of the Christ (2004)
* The Aviator (2005)
* Volver (2006)
* The Queen (2007)
* There Will Be Blood (2008)
* Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
* Avatar (2010)
* The King's Speech (2011)
* The Artist (2012)
* Gravity (2013)
* The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
* Birdman (2015)
* The Revenant (2016)
* Loving Vincent (2017)
* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)
* The Lion King (2019)
* 1917 (2020)

* v
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* e

Goya Award for Best European Film

* Indochine (1992)
* Three Colours: Blue (1993)
* The Snapper (1994)
* Lamerica (1995)
* Secrets & Lies (1996)
* The Full Monty (1997)
* The Boxer (1998)
* Life Is Beautiful (1999)
* Dancer in the Dark (2000)
* Amélie (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)
* Head-On (2004)
* Match Point (2005)
* The Queen (2006)
* ~~(2007)~~
* 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2008)
* Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
* The King's Speech (2010)
* The Artist (2011)
* The Intouchables (2012)
* Amour (2013)
* Ida (2014)
* Mustang (2015)
* Elle (2016)
* The Square (2017)
* Cold War (2018)
* Les Misérables (2019)
* The Father (2020)
* Another Round (2021)
* The Worst Person in the World (2022)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
* Emilia Pérez (2024)

Note: Entries scored out are when the award was not handed

* v
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Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film

* Rocky (1978)
* Conversation Piece (1979)
* The Deer Hunter (1980)
* Kramer vs. Kramer (1981)
* The Tin Drum (1982)
* E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1983)
* An Officer and a Gentleman (1984)
* Once Upon a Time in America (1985)
* Amadeus (1986)
* Back to the Future (1987)
* Platoon (1988)
* The Last Emperor (1989)
* Die Hard (1990)
* Field of Dreams (1991)
* Dances With Wolves (1992)
* JFK (1993)
* Jurassic Park (1994)
* Schindler's List (1995)
* The Shawshank Redemption (1996)
* Il Postino: The Postman (1997)
* Titanic (1998)
* L.A. Confidential (1999)
* The Sixth Sense (2000)
* Dancer in the Dark (2001)
* Billy Elliot (2002)
* Monster's Ball (2003)
* The Pianist (2004)
* The Last Samurai (2005)
* Million Dollar Baby (2006)
* Flags of Our Fathers (2007)
* Letters from Iwo Jima (2008)
* The Dark Knight (2009)
* Gran Torino (2010)
* Avatar (2011)
* The King's Speech (2012)
* The Intouchables (2013)
* Les Misérables (2014)
* Frozen (2015)
* American Sniper (2016)
* Sully (2017)
* La La Land (2018)
* Bohemian Rhapsody (2019)
* Joker (2020)
* Parasite (2021)
* No Time to Die (2022)
* Top Gun: Maverick (2023)
* Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2024)
* Oppenheimer (2025)

* v
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* e

Mainichi Film Award for Foreign Film Best One Award

* Sophie's Choice (1983)
* The Dresser (1984)
* A Sunday in the Country (1985)
* The Purple Rose of Cairo (1986)
* The Trip to Bountiful (1987)
* Hope and Glory (1988)
* Cinema Paradiso (1989)
* A City of Sadness (1990)
* Dances With Wolves (1991)
* JFK (1992)
* Unforgiven (1993)
* Farewell My Concubine (1994)
* The Shawshank Redemption (1995)
* Ulysses' Gaze (1996)
* The English Patient (1997)
* L.A. Confidential (1998)
* Shakespeare in Love (1999)
* Space Cowboys (2000)
* Postmen in the Mountains (2001)
* Devils on the Doorstep (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* Mystic River (2004)
* Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
* Still Life (2007)
* The Dark Knight (2008)
* Gran Torino (2009)
* Breathless (2010)
* The King's Speech (2011)
* Hugo (2012)
* Amour (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* Birdman (2015)
* Sully (2016)
* I, Daniel Blake (2017)
* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)
* Joker (2019)
* Parasite (2020)
* Nomadland (2021)
* Belfast (2022)
* Tár (2023)
* Oppenheimer (2024)

* v
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* e

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film

1966–2000|

* Blowup (1966)
* Persona (1967)
* Shame (1968)
* Z (1969)
* M*A*S*H (1970)
* Claire's Knee (1971)
* The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
* Day for Night (1973)
* Scenes from a Marriage (1974)
* Nashville (1975)
* All the President's Men (1976)
* Annie Hall (1977)
* Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978)
* Breaking Away (1979)
* Melvin and Howard (1980)
* Atlantic City (1981)
* Tootsie (1982)
* The Night of the Shooting Stars (1983)
* Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
* Ran (1985)
* Blue Velvet (1986)
* The Dead (1987)
* The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
* Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
* Goodfellas (1990)
* Life Is Sweet (1991)
* Unforgiven (1992)
* Schindler's List (1993)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* Babe (1995)
* Breaking the Waves (1996)
* L.A. Confidential (1997)
* Out of Sight (1998)
* Being John Malkovich / Topsy-Turvy (1999)
* Yi Yi (2000)

2001–present|

* Mulholland Drive (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* American Splendor (2003)
* Million Dollar Baby (2004)
* Capote (2005)
* Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
* There Will Be Blood (2007)
* Waltz with Bashir (2008)
* The Hurt Locker (2009)
* The Social Network (2010)
* Melancholia (2011)
* Amour (2012)
* Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
* Goodbye to Language (2014)
* Spotlight (2015)
* Moonlight (2016)
* Lady Bird (2017)
* The Rider (2018)
* Parasite (2019)
* Nomadland (2020)
* Drive My Car (2021)
* Tár (2022)
* Past Lives (2023)
* Nickel Boys (2024)

* v
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* e

Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Foreign Film

* The Last Emperor (1988)
* Rain Man (1989)
* Ghost (1990)
* Dances With Wolves (1991)
* Basic Instinct (1992)
* Unforgiven (1993)
* Schindler's List (1994)
* Speed (1995)
* Dead Man Walking (1996)
* The English Patient (1997)
* L.A. Confidential (1998)
* Elizabeth (1999)
* Gladiator (2000)
* Billy Elliot (2001)
* The Son's Room (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* The Last Samurai (2004)
* Million Dollar Baby (2005)
* Brokeback Mountain (2006)
* Letters from Iwo Jima (2007)
* No Country for Old Men (2008)
* Mother (2009)
* The Hurt Locker (2010)
* The King's Speech (2011)
* The Intouchables (2012)
* Les Misérables (2013)
* Frozen (2014)
* Whiplash (2015)
* Spotlight (2016)
* Dunkirk (2017)
* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)
* Green Book (2019)
* House of Hummingbird (2020)
* Nomadland (2021)
* Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
* Barbie (2023)
* The Zone of Interest (2024)

* v
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* e

San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film

* The Pianist (2002)
* Lost in Translation (2003)
* Sideways (2004)
* Brokeback Mountain (2005)
* Little Children (2006)
* The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
* Milk (2008)
* The Hurt Locker (2009)
* The Social Network (2010)
* The Tree of Life (2011)
* The Master (2012)
* 12 Years a Slave (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* Spotlight (2015)
* Moonlight (2016)
* The Florida Project (2017)
* Roma (2018)
* Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
* Nomadland (2020)
* The Power of the Dog (2021)
* The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
* Oppenheimer (2023)
* Anora (2024)

* v
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* e

Polish Academy Award for Best Film

* Historia kina w Popielawach (1999)
* The Debt (2000)
* Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (2001)
* Cześć Tereska (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* Zmruż oczy (2004)
* The Wedding (2005)
* The Collector (2006)
* Plac Zbawiciela (2007)
* Katyń (2008)
* 33 Scenes from Life (2009)
* Reverse (2010)
* Essential Killing (2011)
* Rose (2012)
* Obława (2013)
* Ida (2014)
* Gods (2015)
* Body (2016)
* Volhynia (2017)
* Cicha noc (2018)
* Cold War (2019)
* Corpus Christi (2020)
* Kill It and Leave This Town (2021)
* Quo Vadis, Aida? (2022)
* EO (2023)
* Green Border (2024)
* The Girl with the Needle (2025)

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Spain
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef

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