Cannes - Palme d'Or
The Cannes Film Festival is the world's most prestigious film festival, first held in 1946 in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. Since then, it has been held annually in May with a few exceptions. Given massive media exposure, the non-public Festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for movie producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe. The most prestigious award at Cannes is the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) for the best film, sometimes shared by multiple films in one year.
Below are the past winners of this most cherished trophy.
Right: Michael Moore gets his for Fahrenheit 9/11.
Elephant (2003)
7.2/10
Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson, Elias McConnell, Jordan Taylor
Inspired by the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, this stylish, understated drama from Gus Van Sant ("Drugstore Cowboy") depicts a day in the l... Read more
The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006)
7.5/10
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald, Mary Riordan,...
Ken Loach takes on the Irish-English conflict through a story of two brothers who wind up on differing sides of a philosophical divide after joining i... Read more
If.... (1968)
7.7/10
Director: Lindsay Anderson
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan
A daringly anarchic vision of British society, set in a boarding school in late-sixties England. Before Kubrick made his mischief iconic in 'A Clockwo... Read more
Secrets and Lies (1996)
7.7/10
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Timothy Spall, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rus...
A 27 year old black London Optometrist decides to seek out the woman who gave her up for adoption after she was born. The search leads to a surprising... Read more
Brief Encounter (1945)
8.1/10
Director: David Lean
Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway
A masterpiece from Britain's post-war cinema, this extraordinary romantic drama stars Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, both giving impeccable performa... Read more
Taste Of Cherry (1997)
7.7/10
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Homayoun Ershadi, Adolhossein Bagheri
One of the great works of recent international cinema and the apex of contemporary Iranian film, Abbas Kiarostami's brilliant and deceptively simple f... Read more
Shoplifters (2018)
8.1/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Sosuke Ikematsu
On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders is united by fierce loyalty and a penchant for petty theft. When the young son is arrested,... Read more
The Wages of Fear (1953)
8.1/10
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter Van Eyck
A thriller with surprisingly little violence which is, nevertheless, a hair-raising, hold-onto-the-edge-of-your-seat masterpiece of suspense. A young... Read more
The Pianist (2002)
8.5/10
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman
Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Roman Polanski directs this award-winning testament to the power of the human spirit, based on the true-life story... Read more
sex, lies, and videotape (1989)
7.2/10
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Andie MacDowell, James Spader, Laura San Giacomo, Peter Gallagher
An original, quirky film that won newcomer Steven Soderbergh the top prize at Cannes and captured the imaginations of audiences worldwide. Graham Dalt... Read more