Top prize winners at Cannes

Lars Von Trier brandit la Palme d'or qu'il a reçue pour Dancer in the dark, le 21 mai 2000 PASCAL GUYOT - AFP — Lars Von Trier holds up the Palme d'Or he received for Dancer in the Dark, on May 21, 2000. Pascal Guyot - AFP

The biggest award at the Cannes film festival has not always been the Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm.
Once known as the Grand Prix, the coveted statue took on its present name for good in 1975.

Here is a list of winners since the beginning.

1939: No prize as the festival was halted after 48 hours by Hitler's invasion of Poland.

1946: 11 films shared the top prize, including : "Open City" by Roberto Rossellini, "Maria Candelaria" by Emilio Fernandez, "Brief Encounter" by David Lean, "The Lost Weekend" by Billy Wilder.

1947: Six prizes including: "Les Maudits" by Rene Clement, "Ziegfeld Follies" by Vincente Minnelli, "Dumbo" by Walt Disney.

1949: « "The Third Man" by Carol Reed

1951: "Miracle In Milan" by Vittorio de Sica, "Miss Julie" by Alf Sjoberg…

1952: "Othello" by Orson Welles, "Due Soldi di Speranza" by Renato Castellani.

1953: "The Wages of Fear" by Henri-Georges Clouzot

1954: "The Gate of Hell" (Jigokumon) by Teinosuke Kinugasa

1956: "Le Monde du Silence" by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle

1957: "Friendly Persuasion" by William Wyler

1958: "The Cranes are Flying" by Mikhail Kalatoz

1959: "Black Orpheus" by Marcel Camus

1960: "La Dolce Vita" by Federico Fellini

1961: "Viridiana" by Luis Bunuel, "The Long Absence" by Henri Colpi

1962: "The Given Word" by Anselmo Duarte

1963: "The Leopard" by Luchino Visconti

Claude Lelouch (D) montre le trophée reçu pour Un homme et une femme, le 21 mai 1966 — Claude Lelouch (D) shows the trophy received for A Man and a Woman, on May 21, 1966

1964: "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" by Jacques Demy

1965: "The Knack (… and How to Get It)" by Richard Lester

1966: "A Man and A Woman" by Claude Lelouch, "The Birds, the Bees and the Italians" by Pietro Germi

1967: "Blow-Up" by Michelangelo Antonioni

1968: Cancelled

1969: "If" by Lindsay Anderson

1970: "M*A*S*H" by Robert Altman

1971: "The Go-Between" by Joseph Losey

1972: "The Working Class Goes to Heaven" by Elio Petri, "The Mattei Affair" by Francesco Rosi

1973: "Scarecrow" by Jerry Schatzberg, "The Hireling" by Alan Bridges

1974: "The Conversation" by Francis Ford Coppola

1975: "Chronicle of the Years of Fire" by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina

1976: "Taxi Driver" by Martin Scorsese

1977: "Padre Padrone" by Paolo Taviani

1978: "The Tree of Wooden Clogs" by Ermanno Olmi

1979: "Apocalypse Now" by Francis Ford Coppola, "The Tin Drum" by Volker Schloendorff

1980: "Kagemusha" by Akira Kurosawa, "All That Jazz" by Bob Fosse

Francis Ford Coppola (G) et Volker Schloendorff (D), co-lauréats de la Palme d'or le 24 mai 1979 RALPH GATTI - AFP — Francis Ford Coppola (L) and Volker Schlöndorff (R), co-winners of the Palme d’Or on May 24, 1979. Ralph Gatti – AFP

1981: "Man of Iron" by Andrzej Wajda

1982: "Missing" by Costa-Gavras, "Yol" by Yilmaz Guney

1983: "The Ballad of Narayama" by Shohei Imamura

1984: "Paris, Texas" by Wim Wenders

1985: "When Father Was Away on Business" by Emir Kusturica

1986: "The Mission" by Roland Joffe

1987: "Under the Sun of Satan" by Maurice Pialat

1988: "Pelle the Conqueror" by Bille August

1989: "Sex, Lies and Videotape" by Steven Soderbergh

1990: "Wild At Heart" by David Lynch

Emir Kusturica salue le public après avoir reçu la Palme d'or pour Underground, le 28 mai 1995 PATRICK HERTZOG - AFP — Emir Kusturica salutes the audience after receiving the Palme d’Or for Underground, on May 28, 1995. Patrick Hertzog - AFP

1991: "Barton Fink" by Joel and Ethan Coen

1992: "The Best Intentions" by Bille August

1993: "Farewell My Concubine" by Kaige Chen, "The Piano" by Jane Campion

1994: "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino

1995: "Underground" by Emir Kusturica

1996: "Secrets & Lies" by Mike Leigh

1997: "The Eel" by Shohei Imamura, "Taste of Cherry" by Abbas Kiarostami

1998: "Eternity and a Day" by Theo Angelopoulos

1999: "Rosetta" by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

2000: "Dancer in the Dark" by Lars Von Trier

2001: "The Son's Room" by Nanni Moretti

2002: "The Pianist" by Roman Polanski

2003: "Elephant" by Gus Van Sant

2004: "Fahrenheit 9/11" by Michael Moore

Léa Seydoux (G) et Adèle Exarchopoulos (D) embrassent le réalisateur Abdellatif Kechiche après avoir reçu la Palme d'Or pour La vie d'Adèle, le 26 mai 2013 VALERY HACHE - AFP — Léa Seydoux (L) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (R) kiss director Abdellatif Kechiche after receiving the Palme d’Or for *La vie d'Adèle* on May 26, 2013. Valéry Hache - AFP

2005: "The Child" by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

2006: "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" by Ken Loach

2007: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" by Cristian Mungui

2008: "The Class" by Laurent Cantet

2009: "The White Ribbon" by Michael Haneke

2010: "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

2011: "The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick

2012: "Love" by Michael Haneke

2013: "Blue is the Warmest Colour" by Abdellatif Kechiche

2014: "Winter Sleep" by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

2015: "Dheepan" by Jacques Audiard

2016: "I, Daniel Blake" by Ken Loach

2017: “The Square” by Ruben Ostlund

Iranian director, screenwriter and producer Jafar Panahi (right) celebrates his victory after winning the Palme d’Or for the film A Simple Accident during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, in southern France, on May 24, 2025. Antonin Thuillier - AFP

2018: “Shoplifters” by Hirokazu Koreeda

2019: “Parasite” by Bong Joon Ho

2021: “Titane” by Julia Ducournau

2022: “Triangle of Sadness” by Ruben Ostlund

2023: “Anatomy of a Fall” by Justine Triet

2024: “Anora” by Sean Baker

2025: “It was just an accident” by Jafar Panahi

2026: “Fjord” by Cristian Mungiu