Palme d'Or facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Palme d'Or
Presented by	Cannes Film Festival
Location	Cannes
Country	France
First awarded	1955 (Marty)
Currently held by	It Was Just an Accident (2025)

The Palme d'Or (which means Golden Palm in English) is the top award given to the best movie director at the Cannes Film Festival. This special prize was first given out in 1955. Before that, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's main award was called the Grand Prix. The Palme d'Or is known worldwide as one of the most important awards in the film industry.

History of the Golden Palm

The coat of arms for the city of Cannes

In 1954, the Cannes Film Festival decided to create a new main award. They wanted a design that would change each year. The festival leaders asked different jewelers to create a palm design. This was a nod to the city of Cannes's coat of arms, which features a palm. It also honored the legend of Saint Honorat and the palm trees along the famous Promenade de la Croisette.

The first design was made by Lucienne Lazon, a jeweler from Paris. It was inspired by a drawing from director Jean Cocteau. The first Palme d'Or was given in 1955 to Delbert Mann for his movie Marty.

From 1964 to 1974, the festival went back to using the Grand Prix award. But in 1975, the Palme d'Or returned. Since then, it has been the main symbol of the festival. It is given each year to the director of the winning film. The award comes in a special red leather box lined with white suede.

The Palme d'Or awarded to Apocalypse Now at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival

As of 2023, only three female directors have won the Palme d'Or. They are Jane Campion (for The Piano), Julia Ducournau (for Titane), and Justine Triet (for Anatomy of a Fall).

In 2013, something unusual happened. The movie Blue Is the Warmest Color won the Palme d'Or. The jury, led by Steven Spielberg, decided to give the award not only to the director, Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the movie's actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. This was the only time multiple Palme d'Or trophies were given for one film. The jury did this because of a festival rule. This rule says that a film winning the Palme d'Or cannot win any other awards. The jury wanted to recognize the amazing acting, so they included the actresses in the main award.

The Palme d'Or trophy has been updated several times. In the early 1980s, its base changed from round to a pyramid shape. In 1992, Thierry de Bourqueney redesigned the palm and its base using crystal. Then, in 1997, Caroline Scheufele redesigned the statuette. Since then, it has been made by the Swiss jewelry company Chopard.

The palm itself is made from about 4.16 ounces (118 grams) of 18-carat yellow gold. The bottom of the palm branch forms a small heart. The golden palm sits on a beautiful crystal cushion. This cushion is shaped like an emerald-cut diamond. The award is now presented in a blue Morocco leather case. In 1998, Theo Angelopoulos was the first director to win the Palme d'Or in its current design for his film Eternity and a Day.

In 2017, the award was redesigned again to celebrate the festival's 70th anniversary. The diamonds used in the design came from a company that gets its materials in an ethical way.

The 2020 Cannes Film Festival was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though 56 films were chosen for the festival, no awards were given out that year.

Winners

Roberto Rossellini won in 1946.

Orson Welles won in 1952.

Federico Fellini won in 1960.

Robert Altman won in 1970.

Francis Ford Coppola won twice in 1974 and 1979.

Martin Scorsese won in 1976.

Emir Kusturica won twice, in 1985 and 1995.

David Lynch won in 1990.

Joel Coen won in 1991.

Jane Campion won in 1993, becoming the first woman to win this award.

Quentin Tarantino won in 1994.

Kiarostami, AbbasAbbas Kiarostami won in 1997.

Dardenne, Jean-Pierre & LucJean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne won twice in 1999 and 2005.

Michael Haneke won twice in 2009 and 2012.

Weerasethakul, ApichatpongApichatpong Weerasethakul won in 2010.

Ken Loach won twice in 2006 and 2016.

Ruben Östlund won in 2017 and 2022.

Bong Joon Ho won in 2019.

Julia Ducournau won in 2021, becoming the first woman to win it solo.

Sean Baker won in 2024

Jafar Panahi won in 2025.

1940s Winners

1950s Winners

1960s Winners

1970s Winners

1980s Winners

1990s Winners

2000s Winners

2010s Winners

2020s Winners

^§ This means the jury voted for the film unanimously (everyone agreed).

Special Palme d'Or

In 2018, the festival jury gave out a "Special Palme d'Or" for the very first time. This award was not the usual "Honorary Palme d'Or." Instead, it was a special tribute to Jean-Luc Godard for his long career and also for his film itself.

Wins by Country

This table shows which countries have won the most Palme d'Or awards.

Country	Number of Wins
France	28
United States	24
Italy	13
United Kingdom
Germany	10
Denmark	5
Japan
Sweden
Belgium	4
Soviet Union	2
Brazil
Yugoslavia
Poland
Austria
Spain
Turkey
Iran
Czechoslovakia	1
India
Mexico
Switzerland
Morocco
Algeria
Australia
Hong Kong
New Zealand
Greece
Ireland
Romania
South Korea
Thailand
Luxembourg

Directors with Multiple Wins

Nine directors or directing teams have won the Palme d'Or more than once. Three of them (marked with ) won for movies released one after the other.

Number of Wins	Directors	Nationality	Films
2	Alf Sjöberg	Sweden	Torment (1946), Miss Julie (1951)
	Francis Ford Coppola	United States	The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979)
	Bille August	Denmark	Pelle the Conqueror (1988), The Best Intentions (1992)
	Emir Kusturica	Yugoslavia	When Father Was Away on Business (1985), Underground (1995)
	Shōhei Imamura	Japan	The Ballad of Narayama (1983), The Eel (1997)
	Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne	Belgium	Rosetta (1999), L'Enfant (2005)
	Michael Haneke	Austria	The White Ribbon (2009), Amour (2012)
	Ken Loach	United Kingdom	The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), I, Daniel Blake (2016)
	Ruben Östlund	Sweden	The Square (2017), Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Honorary Palme d'Or

In 1997, for the festival's 50th anniversary, a special "Palme des Palmes" (Palm of Palms) was given for the first time.

Since 2002, the festival has also given out a non-competitive Honorary Palme d'Or. This award goes to directors or actors who have created many important works but have never won the main Palme d'Or award.

See also

In Spanish: Palma de Oro para niños

• List of actors who have appeared in multiple Palme d'Or winners
• Golden Bear, the top award at the Berlin International Film Festival
• Golden Lion, the top award at the Venice Film Festival
• Short Film Palme d'Or

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