The Cannes jury behind the scenes
The decision on the winner of the Palme d'or can involve fierce battles. The discussions take place behind closed doors, but members of the jury, historians and festival organisers have sometimes raised a corner of the curtain on what happens behind the scenes, revealing pressure, manœuvering and infighting.
Rossellini: a despot revealed
In 1977, Roberto Rossellini presided the jury, emerging as a clear despot. The festival’s president Robert Favre Le Bret, wanted the Palme d'or to go to Ettore Scola’s “A Special Day”. Rossellini however, preferred the film by the Taviani brothers’ “Padre Padrone”, shot on an amateur 16 mm for television. In order to persuade one of the jury members, who was undecided, the master of cinema went as far as to gift him an expensive piece of jewellery, which he had billed in the name of Favre Le Bret. On the day of the prizegiving, provocatively, Rossellini gave the Palme to the Taviani brothers in person, saying: “without television, cinema will die”.
Stunned, Favre Le Bret vowed from now on to call on “more real professionals and fewer amateurs” for the Cannes jury.
The ‘rigged competition’ of Françoise Sagan
The novelist complained that the hotel in which she was staying at the festival’s invitation had asked her to pay for her extras. Cannes replied by publishing the enormous amount of these extras.
In 1979, the Palme d'or was shared by “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Ford Coppola and “The Tin Drum” by Volker Schloendorff. Seven months later an earthquake: the jury president Françoise Sagan, told the press that the competition had been rigged.
AFP reported at the time that the controversy involved “petty” financial sums.
Polanski drives the jury to drink
In 1991, only one film was in competition, under jury president Roman Polanski: “Barton Fink” by the Coen brothers. Polanski wanted to award it all the prizes. On the eve of the prize-giving ceremony he organised a private discussion, at which the drink flowed at which he managed to get the whole jury’s approval for “Barton Fink”. The next day at the official discussion the decision was challenged but Polanski categorically refused a new vote. “Barton Fink” walked off with three prizes: the Palme d’or, best actor for John Turturro and best director. Such a concentration made waves in the industry. The festival management the next year laid down drastic rules for the prizegiving. From then on, the same film could only receive one prize. The only exception: the best actor or actress can be given for a film which has been given another prize, with a special derogation of the presidency of the festival.
War between Adjani-Moretti
In 1997, Isabelle Adjani presided the jury, which included Italian director Nanni Moretti. The actress demanded that all the members of the jury watch the films with her at the morning session, then hold a discussion after each screening and even tried to impose her diet. There was growing hostility towards her. The day of the final discussion Adjani wanted to give the Palme d'or to “Beautiful tomorrows” by Atom Egoyan. But the other jury members largely favoured “The Eel” by Shohei Imamura. Nanni Moretti, who backed “Taste of Cherry” by Abbas Kiarostami, suggested that Adjani ask the festival for authorisation to give a shared prize. She accepted, believing that the Italian director would vote for “Beautiful tomorrows”. But he voted for “The Eel” and persuaded the other jury members to award it along with “Taste of Cherry”. Adjani described Moretti in the press as de “Machiavellian”.