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 director of the best movie in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This special award started in 1955. Before that, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's main prize was called the Grand Prix. The Palme d'Or is known around the world 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 be different each year. The festival leaders asked jewelers to create a palm design. This was a nod to the city of Cannes' coat of arms. It also remembered 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. Her idea was inspired by a drawing from director Jean Cocteau. The palm's stem looked like a heart. The base was a sculpture made of terracotta by artist Sébastien.

First Winners and Changes

In 1955, the very first Palme d'Or was given to Delbert Mann for his movie Marty. For a while, 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 case made of red Morocco leather with white suede inside.

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. However, Bodil Ipsen also won the Grand Prix in 1946 for The Red Meadows.

In 2013, something very 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 film'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 Cannes rules usually stop a Palme d'Or-winning film from getting any other awards. This meant they couldn't give separate acting awards to the actresses.

Award Design and Special Moments

The design of the Palme d'Or has changed a few times since it came back in 1975. In the early 1980s, its round base became more pyramid-shaped. In 1992, Thierry de Bourqueney redesigned the palm and its base using cut crystal. Then, in 1997, Caroline Scheufele redesigned the statuette. Since then, the Swiss jewelry company Chopard has made it.

The palm itself is made from about 4.16 ounces (118 grams) of 18-carat yellow gold. The base of the palm branch forms a small heart. The golden palm sits on a beautiful crystal cushion shaped like a diamond. This crystal cushion is made from a single piece of cut crystal. 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 with this new design for his film Eternity and a Day.

In 2014, the Palme d'Or went to Winter Sleep, a Turkish film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. This was a special year because it was the 100th anniversary of Turkish cinema. When Ceylan accepted the award, he dedicated it to young people involved in Turkey's political events and to workers who died in a mining accident.

In 2017, the award was redesigned again to celebrate the festival's 70th anniversary. The diamonds used in the award came from a company that follows ethical rules for jewelry.

The 2020 Cannes Film Festival was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-six films were chosen for the festival that year, but no awards were given out. This was the first time no awards were presented since 1968.

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.

The Palme d'Or has been awarded to many amazing films and directors over the years. Here are some of the most recent winners:

Special Palme d'Or

In 2018, the jury gave a "Special Palme d'Or" for the first time. This award was a way to honor the career of Jean-Luc Godard and his film The Image Book. It was not the same as an Honorary Palme d'Or.

Countries with Most Wins

Many countries have won the Palme d'Or. France and the United States have won the most.

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 won for movies released one after the other.

Honorary Palme d'Or

In 1997, for the festival's 50th birthday, a "Palme des Palmes" was given for the first time. This special award went to Ingmar Bergman, a famous filmmaker from Sweden.

Since 2002, the festival has also given an Honorary Palme d'Or. This award is not part of the competition. It is given to directors or actors who have created many important works but have never won the main Palme d'Or.

See also

In Spanish: Palma de Oro para niños

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