1996 Cannes Film Festival
The 49th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1996. The Palme d'Or went to Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh.
The festival opened with Ridicule, directed by Patrice Leconte and closed with Flirting with Disaster, directed by David O. Russell. Sabine Azéma was the mistress of ceremonies.
poster, adapted from an original illustration by Jacques Loustal.
Juries
Main competition
The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 1996 Official Selection:- Francis Ford Coppola
- Nathalie Baye
- Greta Scacchi, actrice
- Michael Ballhaus
- Henry Chapier
- Atom Egoyan
- Eiko Ishioka
- Krzysztof Piesiewicz
- Antonio Tabucchi
- Anh Hung Tran
Camera d'Or
- Françoise Fabian President
- Antoine Simkine
- Daniel Schmid
- Gian Luca Farinelli
- Jacques Kermabon
- Ramon Font
- Sandrine Gady
Official selection
In competition - Feature film
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:- Breaking the Waves by Lars von Trier
- Comment je me suis disputé... by Arnaud Desplechin
- Crash by David Cronenberg
- Fargo by Joel Coen
- Feng yue by Chen Kaige
- Kansas City by Robert Altman
- Kauas pilvet karkaavat by Aki Kaurismäki
- La seconda volta by Mimmo Calopresti
- Le huitième jour by Jaco Van Dormael
- Les voleurs by André Téchiné
- Nan guo zai jian, nan guo by Hou Hsiao-hsien
- Po di Sangui by Flora Gomes
- Prea târziu by Lucian Pintilie
- Ridicule by Patrice Leconte
- Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh
- Stealing Beauty by Bernardo Bertolucci
- The Quiet Room by Rolf de Heer
- Sunchaser by Michael Cimino
- The Van by Stephen Frears
- Tierra by Julio Médem
- Trois vies & une seule mort by Raúl Ruiz
- Un héros très discret by Jacques Audiard
Un Certain Regard
- Bastard Out of Carolina by Anjelica Huston
- Buenos Aires Vice Versa by Alejandro Agresti
- Compagna di viaggio by Peter Del Monte
- Conte d'été by Éric Rohmer
- Cwał by Krzysztof Zanussi
- Few of Us by Šarūnas Bartas
- Fourbi by Alain Tanner
- Gabbeh by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
- Haifa by Rashid Masharawi
- I Shot Andy Warhol by Mary Harron
- Irma Vep by Olivier Assayas
- La Bouche de Jean-Pierre by Lucile Hadžihalilović
- Looking for Richard by Al Pacino
- Love Serenade by Shirley Barrett
- Lulu by Srinivas Krishna
- Mossane by Safi Faye
- No Way to Forget by Richard Frankland
- Pasts by Laila Pakalniņa
- Pramis by Laila Pakalniņa
- Some Mother's Son by Terry George
- Sydney by Paul Thomas Anderson
- The Pallbearer by Matt Reeves
- The Pillow Book by Peter Greenaway
- The Waste Land by Deborah Warner
- Un samedi sur la terre by Diane Bertrand
Films out of competition
- Flirting with Disaster by David O. Russell
- Girl 6 by Spike Lee
- Il giorno della prima di Close Up by Nanni Moretti
- Le affinità elettive by Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani
- Runaway Brain by Chris Bailey
- Microcosmos by Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou
- Trainspotting by Danny Boyle
Short film competition
- 4 maneras de tapar un hoyo by Guillermo Rendon Rodriguez, Jorge Villalobos de La Torre
- Attraction by Alexeï Diomine
- Brooms by Luke Cresswell, Steve Mcnicholas
- Estoria do gato e da lua by Pedro Miguel Serrazina
- Film Noir by Michael Liu
- Les fourmis rouges by Pierre Erwan Guillaume
- Oru Neenda Yathra by Murali Nair
- Passeio com Johnny Guitar by João César Monteiro
- Petite Sotte by Luc Otter
- Sin #8 by Barbara Heller
- Small Deaths by Lynne Ramsay
- Szél by Marcell Iványi
- The Beach by Dorthe Scheffmann
- This Film Is a Dog by Jonathan Ogilvie
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 35th International Critics' Week :Feature film competition
- Les Aveux de l’innocent by Jean-Pierre Améris
- Yuri by Yoonho Yang
- Mi ultimo hombre by Tatiana Gaviola
- The Empty Mirror by Barry J. Hershey
- The Daytrippers by Greg Mottola
- A Drifting Life by Lin Cheng-sheng
- Not Me! by Pierre Gang
- Planet Man by Andrew Bancroft
- A Summer Dress by François Ozon
- La Grande migration by Youri Tcherenkov
- Le Réveil by Marc Henri Wajnberg
- The Slap by Tamara Hernandez
- La Tarde de un matrimonio de clase media by Fernando Javier León Rodríguez
- Derrière le bureau d’acajou by Johannes S. Nilsson
Directors' Fortnight
- A toute vitesse by Gaël Morel
- Beautiful Thing by Hettie MacDonald
- A Chef in Love by Nana Djordjadze
- Le Cri de la soie by Yvon Marciano
- Edipo Alcalde by Jorge Ali Triana
- Encore by Pascal Bonitzer
- Flame by Ingrid Sinclair
- Vaska Easoff by Peter Gothar
- Inside by Arthur Penn
- Youth Without God by Catherine Corsini
- Jude by Michael Winterbottom
- Kids Return by Takeshi Kitano
- Prisoner of the Mountains by Sergei Bodrov
- La Promesse by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
- Lone Star by John Sayles
- Macadam Tribu by José Laplaine
- by Judit Elek
- Perfect Love by Catherine Breillat
- Pasajes by Daniel Calparsoro
- Salut cousin ! by Merzak Allouache
- Select Hôtel by Laurent Bouhnik
- Trees Lounge by Steve Buscemi
- White Night by Arnon Zadok
- Will It Snow for Christmas? by Sandrine Veysset
- La Faim by Siegfried
- La Fille et l’amande by Bénédicte Brunet
- Vacances A Blériot by Bruno Bontzolakis
- Virage Nord by Sylvain Labrosse
Awards
Official awards
The following films and people received the 1996 Official selection awards:- Palme d'Or: Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh
- Grand Prize of the Jury: Breaking the Waves by Lars von Trier
- Best Director: Joel Coen for Fargo
- Best Screenplay: Un héros très discret by Jacques Audiard, Alain Le Henry
- Best Actress: Brenda Blethyn for Secrets & Lies
- Best Actor: Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne for Le huitième jour
- Jury Special Prize: Crash by David Cronenberg
- Caméra d'Or: Love Serenade by Shirley Barrett
- Short Film Palme d'Or: Szél by Marcell Iványi
- Jury Prize: Small Deaths'' by Lynne Ramsay
Independent awards
- Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh
- Prisoner of the Mountains by Sergei Bodrov
- The Mail & The Ferry by Laila Pakalnina
- Technical Grand Prize: The whole technical team for Microcosmos
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh
- Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention: A Drifting Life by Cheng-sheng Lin & Drifting Clouds by Aki Kaurismäki
- Foreign Film: White Night by Arnon Zadok
- French Film: Les aveux de l'innocent by Jean-Pierre Améris
- Mercedes-Benz Award: Les aveux de l'innocent by Jean-Pierre Améris
- Canal+ Award: Planet Man by Andrew Bancroft
- Best Cyber Poster Award in the First Multimedia Day at the 49th Cannes Film Festival in 1996: The Visionary'' by Beny Tchaicovsky
Media