The Jury Prize () is an award of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. According to American film critic

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

, the award is "intended to recognize an original work that embodies the spirit of inquiry."

History

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 May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

. 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 Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

and

Andrea Arnold Andrea Patricia Arnold OBE (born 5 April 1961) is an English filmmaker and former actress. She won an Academy Award for her short film ''Wasp'' in 2005. Her feature films include '' Red Road'' (2006), '' Fish Tank'' (2009) and '' American Hon ...

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:

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Giorgio Moser Giorgio Moser (9 October 1923 – 25 September 2004) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed seven films between 1954 and 1996. Selected filmography * '' Romulus and the Sabines'' (1945) * '' Lost Continent'' (1955) *''Un ...

and Leonardo Bonzi for '' Lost Continent'' (1955),

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis (comics), Persepolis'' and Persepo ...

and Vincent Paronnaud for ''

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'' (2007),

Kleber Mendonça Filho Kleber Mendonça Filho (; born 22 November 1968) is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer, and critic. Early life With a degree in journalism from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Kleber Mendonça Filho began his career as a fil ...

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 Sir Christopher James Hampton (born 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (play), ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the Les Liaisons da ...

won that award for '' Carrington'' along with the regular ''Prix du Jury'' given to

Xavier Beauvois Xavier Beauvois (; born 20 March 1967) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Career His film '' Don't Forget You're Going to Die'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. His film '' Of Gods an ...

for '' Don't Forget You're Going to Die'' in 1995; and

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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 A distribution deal (also known as distribution contract or distribution agreement) is a legal agreement between one party and another, to handle distribution of a product. There are various forms of distribution deals. There are exclusive and ...

Winners

Jerzy_Skolimowski_at_Lisbon_Film_Festival_2016

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

; 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:

References

External links

Cannes Film Festival official website

Cannes Film Festival
at the

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{{Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize Lists of films by award *