The Jury Prize (French: Prix du Jury) is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. According to American film critic Dave Kehr, the award is "intended to recognize an original work that embodies the spirit of inquiry."

History

Prize official logo

The award was first presented in 1946. The prize was not awarded on 10 occasions (1947, 1949, 1953, 1967, 1974–79, 1981–82, 1984, and 2001). 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 films on 21 occasions (1957, 1960, 1962–63, 1970–71, 1973, 1987, 1991–93, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2021–22, and 2025). Ken Loach and Andrea Arnold have won the most awards in this category, each winning three. Irma P. Hall is the only actress to win in this category, for her role in The Ladykillers (2004). Four directing teams have shared the award: Enrico Gras, Giorgio Moser and Leonardo Bonzi for Lost Continent (1955), Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud for Persepolis (2007), Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles for Bacurau (2019), and Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch for The Eight Mountains (2022). Samira Makhmalbaf was the first woman to have won the award, for 2000's Blackboards.

Since 1967, the official name of the award has been simply the Prix du Jury, but it has had two other names since its creation in 1946: the International Jury Prize, which was awarded for that year only, and the Prix spécial du Jury (1951–1967) that was given among other secondary prizes. In 1954, after facing much criticism about the whimsical nature of these awards, the Festival authorities decided to turn to a more traditional prize-giving arrangement. Since then, the Prix spécial du Jury reappeared only twice: Christopher Hampton won that award for Carrington along with the regular Prix du Jury given to Xavier Beauvois for Don't Forget You're Going to Die in 1995; and David Cronenberg won for Crash in 1996, which was the only prize allotted by the International Jury for that year.

British film academic Andrew M. Butler regards jury prizes such as Cannes' as a way of helping a film gain a distribution deal.

Winners

Joseph L. Mankiewicz won for All About Eve (1951)
Andrzej Wajda won for Kanał (1957)
Jacques Tati won for Mon Oncle (1958)
Michelangelo Antonioni won twice for L'Avventura (1960) and L'Eclisse (1962)
Masaki Kobayashi won for Kwaidan (1965)
Souleymane Cissé won for Yeelen (1987)
Ken Loach won three times for Hidden Agenda (1990), Raining Stones (1993) and The Angels' Share (2012)
Hou Hsiao-hsien won for The Puppetmaster (1993)
Manoel de Oliveira won for The Letter (1999)
Samira Makhmalbaf won twice for Blackboards (2000) and At Five in the Afternoon (2003)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul won twice for Tropical Malady (2004) and Memoria (2021)
Andrea Arnold won three times for Red Road (2006), Fish Tank (2009) and American Honey (2016)
Jean-Luc Godard won for Goodbye to Language (2014)
Andrey Zvyagintsev won for Loveless (2017)
Jerzy Skolimowski won for EO (2022)
Aki Kaurismäki won for Fallen Leaves (2023)

1940s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
1946The Battle of the RailsLa Bataille du railRené ClémentFrance

1950s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
1951All About EveJoseph L. MankiewiczUnited States
1952We Are All MurderersNous sommes tous des assassinsAndré CayatteFrance
1954Knave of HeartsMonsieur RipoisRené Clément
1955Lost ContinentContinente perdutoEnrico Gras, Giorgio Moser & Leonardo BonziItaly
1956The Mystery of PicassoLe mystère PicassoHenri-Georges ClouzotFrance
1957KanałAndrzej WajdaPoland
The Seventh SealDet sjunde insegletIngmar BergmanSweden
1958Mon OncleJacques TatiFrance
1959StarsSterneKonrad WolfEast Germany

1960s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
1960L'AvventuraMichelangelo AntonioniItaly
Odd ObsessionKon IchikawaJapan
1961Mother Joan of the AngelsMatka Joanna od AniołówJerzy KawalerowiczPoland
1962L'EclisseMichelangelo AntonioniItaly
The Trial of Joan of ArcProcès de Jeanne d'ArcRobert BressonFrance
1963The Cassandra CatAž přijde kocourVojtěch JasnýCzechoslovakia
Harakiri切腹Masaki KobayashiJapan
1964Woman in the Dunes砂の女Hiroshi Teshigahara
1965Kwaidan怪談Masaki Kobayashi
1966AlfieLewis GilbertUnited Kingdom
1969ZCosta-GavrasFrance

1970s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
1970The FalconsMagasiskolaIstván GaálHungary
The Strawberry StatementStuart HagmannUnited States
1971Joe HillBo WiderbergSweden, United States
LoveSzerelemKároly MakkHungary
1972Slaughterhouse-FiveGeorge Roy HillUnited States
1973The Hourglass SanatoriumSanatorium pod klepsydrąWojciech HasPoland
The InvitationL'InvitationClaude GorettaSwitzerland
1974La prima AngélicaCarlos SauraSpain

1980s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
1980The Constant FactorConstansKrzysztof ZanussiPoland
1983KharijখারিজMrinal SenIndia
1985Colonel RedlOberst RedlIstván SzabóHungary, West Germany
1986ThérèseAlain CavalierFrance
1987Shinran: Path to Purity親鸞 白い道Rentarō MikuniJapan
YeelenSouleymane CisséMali
1988A Short Film About KillingKrótki film o zabijaniuKrzysztof KieślowskiPoland
1989Jesus of MontrealJésus de MontréalDenys ArcandCanada

1990s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
1990Hidden AgendaKen LoachUnited Kingdom
1991EuropaLars von TrierDenmark
Out of LifeHors la vieMaroun BagdadiFrance
1992Dream of LightEl sol del membrilloVíctor EriceSpain
An Independent LifeСамостоятельная жизньVitali KanevskyFrance, Russia
1993The Puppetmaster戲夢人生Hou Hsiao-hsienTaiwan
Raining StonesKen LoachUnited Kingdom
1994La Reine MargotPatrice ChéreauFrance
1995Don't Forget You're Going to DieN'oublie pas que tu vas mourirXavier Beauvois
CarringtonChristopher HamptonUnited Kingdom
1996CrashDavid CronenbergCanada, United Kingdom
1997WesternManuel PoirierFrance
1998The CelebrationFestenThomas VinterbergDenmark
Class TripLa classe de neigeClaude MillerFrance
1999The LetterA CartaManoel de OliveiraPortugal, France, Spain

2000s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
2000Blackboardsتخته سیاه‎Samira MakhmalbafIran, Italy
Songs from the Second FloorSånger från andra våningenRoy AnderssonSweden, France
2002Divine Interventionيد إلهيةElia SuleimanPalestine, Morocco, France, Germany
2003At Five in the Afternoonپنج عصر‎Samira MakhmalbafIran, France
2004The Ladykillers *Irma P. HallUnited States
Tropical Maladyสัตว์ประหลาดApichatpong WeerasethakulFrance, Thailand
2005Shanghai Dreams青红Wang XiaoshuaiChina
2006Red RoadAndrea ArnoldUnited Kingdom
2007PersepolisMarjane Satrapi & Vincent ParonnaudFrance
Silent LightStellet LichtCarlos ReygadasMexico, France, Netherlands
2008Il divoPaolo SorrentinoItaly, France
2009Fish TankAndrea ArnoldUnited Kingdom
Thirst박쥐Park Chan-wookSouth Korea

2010s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
2010A Screaming ManUn homme qui crieMahamat-Saleh HarounChad, France, Belgium
2011PolisseMaïwennFrance
2012The Angels' ShareKen LoachUnited Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy
2013Like Father, Like Sonそして父になるHirokazu Kore-edaJapan
2014Goodbye to LanguageAdieu au LangageJean-Luc GodardFrance
MommyXavier DolanCanada
2015The LobsterYorgos LanthimosIreland, United Kingdom, France, Greece, Netherlands
2016American HoneyAndrea ArnoldUnited Kingdom, United States
2017LovelessНелюбовьAndrey ZvyagintsevRussia, France, Belgium, Germany
2018CapernaumكفرناحومNadine LabakiLebanon
2019BacurauKleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano DornellesBrazil, France
Les MisérablesLadj LyFrance

2020s

YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleRecipient(s)Production Country
2021Ahed's KneeהברךNadav LapidFrance, Germany, Israel
MemoriaApichatpong WeerasethakulColombia, Thailand, United Kingdom, Mexico, France
2022The Eight MountainsLe otto montagneFelix van Groeningen & Charlotte VandermeerschItaly, Belgium, France
EOIOJerzy SkolimowskiPoland, Italy
2023Fallen LeavesKuolleet lehdetAki KaurismäkiFinland
2024Emilia PérezJacques AudiardFrance
2025SirātOliver LaxeSpain, France
Sound of FallingIn die Sonne schauenMascha SchilinskiGermany

Notes

‡ Awarded as "Special Jury Prize", a unique award not given annually but only at the request of the official jury.

* The Jury Prize was specially awarded to Irma P. Hall for acting in The Ladykillers.

Multiple winners

The following individuals received two or more Jury Prize awards:

Number of WinsDirectorsNationalityFilms
3Ken LoachUnited KingdomHidden Agenda (1990), Raining Stones (1993), The Angels' Share (2012)
Andrea ArnoldRed Road (2006), Fish Tank (2009), American Honey (2016)
2René ClémentFranceThe Battle of the Rails (1946), Knave of Hearts (1954)
Michelangelo AntonioniItalyL'Avventura (1960), L'Eclisse (1962)
Masaki KobayashiJapanHarakiri (1963), Kwaidan (1965)
Samira MakhmalbafIranBlackboards (2000), At Five in the Afternoon (2003)
Apichatpong WeerasethakulThailandTropical Malady (2004), Memoria (2021)

See also

External links