The Best Director Award () is an award presented annually at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival.
The most recent winners are Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for La bola negra and Paweł Pawlikowski for Fatherland at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
History
The award was first presented at the 1st Cannes Film Festival in 1946, René Clément was the first winner for The Battle of the Rails.
The prize was not awarded on 13 occasions (1947, 1953–54, 1960, 1962–64, 1971, 1973–74, 1977, and 1980-81).
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.
Also, the jury vote was tied, and the prize was shared by two directors on seven occasions (1955, 1969, 1975, 1983, 2001–02, and 2016). Joel Coen of the Coen brothers has received the most awards in this category, with three. Two directing teams have shared the award: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for Young Ahmed (2019) and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for La bola negra (2026).
Yuliya Solntseva became the first woman to win, for Chronicle of Flaming Years (1961). While Sofia Coppola was the second and last woman to win it, for The Beguiled (2017).
The winner of the Best Director Award rarely wins the Palme d'Or, the main prize given at the festival, which is also awarded to the director of the winning film. This happened only twice: Joel Coen won both awards for Barton Fink in 1991;Coen brothers to jointly head Cannes jury - BBC News and Gus Van Sant won for Elephant in 2003.CANNES FILM FESTIVAL; Van Sant's 'Elephant' Receives Palme d'Or - New York Times
Winners
1940s Year Director English Title Original Title 1946 1949
1950s Year Director English Title Original Title 1951 1952 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s Year Director English Title Original Title 1961 1965 1966 1967 1969
1970s Year Director English Title Original Title 1970 1972 1975 Costa-Gavras 1976 1978 1979
1980s Year Director English Title Original Title 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s Year Director English Title Original Title 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s Year Director English Title Original Title 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s Year Director English Title Original Title 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Who Won and Who Lost at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival|Vogue 2017 Cannes 2017: Sofia Coppola Wins Best Director and Makes History|IndieWire 2018 2019
2020s Year Director English Title Original Title 2021 Cannes Film Festival 2021: The List Of Winners - Forbes 2022 헤어질 결심 2023 La Passion de Dodin Bouffant 2024 Miguel GomesGrand Tour2025 Kleber Mendonça FilhoThe Secret AgentO Agente Secreto 2026Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi La bola negraPaweł PawlikowskiFatherlandVaterland
Multiple winners
The following individuals received two or more Best Director awards:
Number of Wins Directors Nationality Films 3 Joel Coen United States Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) 2 René Clément France The Battle of the Rails (1946), The Walls of Malapaga (1949) Robert Bresson A Man Escaped (1957), L'Argent (1983) Sergei Yutkevich Soviet Union Othello (1956), Lenin in Poland (1966) John Boorman United Kingdom Leo the Last (1970), The General (1998) Paweł Pawlikowski Poland Cold War (2018), Fatherland (2026)
See also Silver Bear for Best Director Silver Lion
References
External links
Cannes Film Festival at the Internet Movie Database Top 25 Movies That Won Best Director At Cannes - Taste of Cinema