| The Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm, is a prize that has been awarded at the Cannes Film Festival in the years 1955-1963, 1966, and 1975-present. It is frequently referred to as Cannes' "Top Prize," though it does not have such an official designation. Each year, various awards are given to films, including occasional "Jury Prizes" and "Grand Jury Prizes," "Best Director" prizes, as well as Camera d'Or prizes, but it is generally accepted that the Palm d'Or is at the top of the hierarchy, just as Best Picture is given pride of place over such awards as Best Director at the U.S. Academy Awards.
It should be noted that the Palme d'Or is awarded by a small jury selected each year, as opposed to the Academy Awards Best Picture award, which is given by a large jury of members that persist from year to year. The result of this difference is that the Academy Awards tend to be more consistent, which can also be regarded as more conservative, whereas the Cannes awards tend to be more quirky, subjective, and therefore more daring and counter to mainstream taste. It also means that the Cannes awards tend to be more controversial, so that often a Palme d'Or award winner such as Dancer In The Dark may be greeted by more boos than cheers when the award is announced. Besides this difference, the more obvious difference is that the Palme d'Or is a truly international award, whereas the Academy Awards tend to ghettoize non-American films into a separate Best Foreign Film section.
What awards, and how many awards are given at Cannes are determined arbitrarily on a year-to-year basis, and an award such as the Palme d'Or can be given to multiple films in the same year. In years when there was no Palme d'Or there was often (though not always) a nearly equivalent Grand Prix. In 1969, for example, the Grand Prix went to Lindsay Anderson's If.... This could be regarded as a sort of "top prize" for those years, but this is complecated by the fact that in some years there were both a Palme d'Or and Grand Prix given seperately to different films. Palm d'Or's supremacy is then assumed. Besides the Palm d'Or given to feature films, there is also a Palm d'Or given to short films.
If this all seems confusing, just remember the simple rule of thumb: "It's good to win a prize at Cannes."
Following is a list of all of the feature films given the prize designated "Palme d'Or," in reverse chronological order:
2001- The Son's Room
2000- Dancer In The Dark
1999- Rosetta
1998- Eternity And A Day
1997- A Taste Of Cherry
- Unagi
1996- Secrets And Lies
1995- Underground
1994- Pulp Fiction
1993- Farewell My Concubine
1992- Intentions
1991- Barton Fink
1990- Wild At Heart
1989- Sex, Lies and Videotape
1988- Pelle The Conqueror
1987- Under The Sun Of Satan
1986- The Mission
1985- When Father Was Away On Business
1984- Paris, Texas
1983- The Ballad Of Narayama
1982- Yol
- Missing
1981- Man of Iron
1980- Kagemusha
1979- Apocalypse Now
1978- The Tree Of Wooden Clogs
1977- Padre Padrone
1976- Taxi Driver
1975- Chronicle Of The Years Of Embers
1966- Signore E Signori
- A Man And A Woman
1963- The Leopard
1962- O Pagador de Promessas
1961- Une Aussi Longue Absence
- Viridiana
1960- La Dolce Vita
1959- Black Orpheus
1958- The Cranes Are Flying
1957- Friendly Persuasion
1956- Le Monde du Silence
1955- Marty
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