The Queer Palm is an independently sponsored prize for selected LGBTQIA+-relevant films entered into the Cannes Film Festival. The award was founded in 2010 by journalist Franck Finance-Madureira. It is sponsored by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, filmmakers of Jeanne and the Perfect Guy, The Adventures of Felix, Crustacés et Coquillages, and L'Arbre et la forêt.
The award recognizes a film for its treatment of LGBT themes and selects from among those films nominated or entered under Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Critics' Week, Directors' Fortnight and the ACID section.
History Along with Berlin's Teddy Award and Venice's Queer Lion, the Queer Palm is a major international film award dedicated specifically for LGBT cinema."Cannes cold shoulders its 'Queer Palm' prize" . France 24, July 16, 2021. However, the festival has faced some criticism for purportedly sidelining the award and not allowing it to become an official award of the festival organization.
Beginning in 2022, the Queer Palm also partnered with the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival to launch the Best Queer Short Award (Prix du Queer métrage) for the best LGBTQ-themed short film in that festival's program."Premier "Prix du Queer métrage" au Festival de Clermont-Ferrand avec TÊTU : les 14 films en compétition". Têtu, 31 January 2022.
In 2026, the Queer Palm jury for the first time presented a Revelation Prize to honour the best film by a first-time director (the recipient being Pierre Le Gall's Flesh and Fuel), in addition to the established categories. In the same year, the Queer Palm partnered with Canada's Festival du nouveau cinéma to create the new Queer Louve award, which will be presented for the first time at the 2026 Festival du nouveau cinéma in lieu of the FNC's former Fierté Montréal-sponsored award for LGBTQ films."From October 8 to 18, 2026: the 56th Montreal New Cinema Festival". L'Initiative, September 24, 2026.
Winners
2010s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country2010 Basil Tsiokos, "“Kaboom” Claims First Queer Palm" . IndieWire, 23 May 2010.Anthony Revoir, "Et le cœur du jury de la Queer Palm fait « Kaboom »!". Abus de Ciné, 24 May 2010. Kaboom Gregg ArakiUnited States, France 108 Cuchillo de PaloCuchillo de palo Renate CostaSpain HeartbeatsLes Amours imaginaires Xavier DolanCanada On TourTournée Mathieu AmalricFrance, Germany2011 Wendy Mitchell, "Beauty (Skoonheid) wins Queer Palm at Cannes". Screen Daily, 22 May 2011. BeautySkoonheid Oliver HermanusSouth Africa Declaration of WarLa Guerre est déclarée Valérie DonzelliFrance Kids of TodayDes jeunes gens mödernes Jérôme de MissolzFrance, Belgium Chatrak Vimukthi JayasundaraIndia My Little Princess Eva IonescoFrance, Romania Old CatsGatos viejos Pedro Peirano and Sebastián SilvaChile Palawan FateBusong Auraeus SolitoPhilippines The Silver CliffO Abismo Prateado Karim AïnouzBrazil The Skin I Live InLa piel que habito Pedro AlmodóvarSpainSnowtownJustin KurzelAustraliaWalk Away ReneeJonathan CaouetteUnited States2012 "Queer Palm 2012: "Laurence Anyways" de Xavier Dolan distingué à Cannes". Le Point, 27 May 2012. Laurence Anyways Xavier DolanCanada Augustine Alice WinocourFrance Beyond the HillsDupă dealuri Cristian MungiuRomania Beyond the WallsHors les murs David LambertBelgium, Canada, France For Love's Sake愛と誠 Takashi MiikeJapan Hold BackRengaine Rachid DjaïdaniFrance Holy Motors Leos CaraxFrance, Germany The InvisiblesLes Invisibles Sébastien LifshitzFrance Mystery浮城謎事 Lou YeChina Noor Çağla Zencirci and Guillaume GiovanettiIndia The Paperboy Lee DanielsUnited States Peddlers Vasan BalaIndia The We and the I Michel GondryUnited States2013 Stranger by the LakeL'Inconnu du lac Alain GuiraudieFrance Behind the Candelabra Steven SoderberghUnited States Blue Is the Warmest ColourLa Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2 Abdellatif KechicheFrance Bombay TalkiesAjeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh Karan JoharIndia Me, Myself and MumLes Garçons et Guillaume, à table! Guillaume GallienneFrance Opium Arielle Dombasle Sarah Prefers to RunSarah préfère la course Chloé RobichaudCanada You and the NightLes Rencontres d'après minuit Yann GonzalezFrance2014 Pride Matthew WarchusUnited Kingdom BreatheRespire Mélanie LaurentFrance Darker Than MidnightPiù buio di mezzanotte Sebastiano RisoItaly Faire: L'amour Djinn CarrénardFrance A Girl at My Door도희야 July JungSouth Korea GirlhoodBande de filles Céline SciammaFrance Love at First FightLes Combattants Thomas Cailley Mommy Xavier DolanCanada Party Girl Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel TheisFrance Saint Laurent Bertrand Bonello When Animals DreamNår dyrene drømmer Jonas Alexander ArnbyDenmark Whiplash Damien ChazelleUnited States XeniaΞενία Panos H. KoutrasGreece, France, Belgium2015 J.D. Borden, "The 19 Films Up For Cannes’ Queer Palm Award: Will a Lesbian-Interest Film Finally Win?". IndieWire, 13 May 2015. Carol Todd HaynesUnited States Amy Asif KapadiaUnited Kingdom Dope Rick FamuyiwaUnited States The Lobster Yorgos LanthimosIreland, United Kingdom, Greece, France, Netherlands Love Gaspar NoéFrance, Belgium Marguerite & JulienMarguerite et Julien Valérie DonzelliFrance Much LovedZin Li Fik Nabil AyouchMorocco, France Mustang Deniz Gamze ErgüvenFrance, Germany, Turkey PaulinePauline s'arrache Emilie BrisavoineFrance Two FriendsLes deux amis Louis Garrel VanityLa Vanité Lionel BaierSwitzerland, France The Wakhan FrontNi le ciel, ni le terre Clément CogitoreFrance, Belgium Where There Is ShadeDe l'ombre il y a Nathan NicholovitchFrance2016 Brigitte Baronnet and Thomas Destouches, "Cannes 2016 : Nicolas Winding Refn, Park Chan Wook et Alain Guiraudie en lice pour la Queer Palm". AlloCiné, 13 May 2016. The Lives of ThérèseLes Vies de ThérèseSébastien LifshitzFrance ApneaApnée Jean-Christophe MeurisseFrance Aquarius Kleber Mendonça FilhoBrazil Le Cancre Paul VecchialiFrance The DancerLa Danseuse Stéphanie Di GiustoFrance, Belgium, Czech Republic Divines Uda BenyaminaFrance, Qatar Fiore Claudio GiovannesiItaly The Handmaiden아가씨 Park Chan-wookSouth Korea The Neon Demon Nicolas Winding RefnFrance, Denmark, United States RawGrave Julia DucournauFrance, Belgium Slack BayMa Loute Bruno DumontFrance, Germany Staying VerticalRester vertical Alain GuiraudieFrance Willy 1er Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Marielle Gautier and Hugo P. Thomas2017 Adrien Naselli, "Tous les films en compétition de la Queer Palm au Festival de Cannes". Têtu, 4 May 2017.BPM (Beats per Minute)120 battements par minute Robin CampilloFrance Coby Christian Sonderegger Golden YearsNos années folles André TéchinéFrance How to Talk to Girls at Parties John Cameron MitchellUnited States Marlina the Murderer in Four ActsMarlina Si Pembunuh dalam Empat Babak Mouly SuryaIndonesia The Prince of Nothingwood Sonia Kronlund They Anahita GhazvinizadehUnited States, Qatar2018 Rhonda Richford, "Cannes: Lukas Dhont’s ‘Girl’ Awarded Queer Palm Prize". The Hollywood Reporter, 18 May 2018.Erik Anderson, "2018 Cannes: 14 (sic) Films in Contention for Queer Palm". AwardsWatch, 23 April 2018.Girl Lukas DhontBelgium, Netherlands El Angel Luis OrtegaArgentina, Spain BorderGräns Ali AbbasiSweden Carmen and LolaCarmen y Lola Arantxa EchevarriaSpain Cassandro the Exotico! Marie LosierFrance Diamantino Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel SchmidtPortugal, France, Brazil EuphoriaEuforia Valeria GolinoItaly The HarvestersDie Stropers Etienne KallosSouth Africa Knife+HeartUn couteau dans le cœur Yann GonzalezFrance, Mexico, Switzerland Love BloomsL'Amour debout Michaël DacheuxFrance Rafiki Wanuri KahiuKenya Sauvage Camille Vidal-NaquetFrance Shéhérazade Jean-Bernard Marlin Sorry AngelPlaire, aimer et courir vite Christophe Honoré Whitney Kevin MacdonaldUnited States, United Kingdom2019 Rhonda Richford, "Cannes: ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ Takes Queer Palm Prize". The Hollywood Reporter, 24 May 2019."Cannes 2019 : les films en lice pour la Queer Palm". Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, 29 April 2019. Portrait of a Lady on FirePortrait de la jeune fille en feu Céline SciammaFrance Adam Maryam TouzaniMorocco And Then We Dancedდა ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ Levan AkinSweden, Georgia, France Bacurau Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano DornellesBrazil, France BeanpoleДылда Kantemir BalagovRussia Frankie Ira SachsUnited States, France, Portugal Liberté Albert SerraFrance, Germany, Spain, Portugal Indianara Aude Chevalier-Beaumel, Marcelo BarbosaBrazil Matthias & Maxime Xavier DolanCanada Oh Mercy!Roubaix, une lumière Arnaud DesplechinFrance Pain and GloryDolor y gloria Pedro AlmodóvarSpain Port Authority Danielle LessovitzUnited States, France Rocketman Dexter FletcherUnited States Tlamess Ala Eddine SlimTunisia, France You Deserve a LoverTu mérites un amour Hafsia HerziFrance Zombi Child Bertrand Bonello
2020s YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country 2020 Award not presented due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France2021 "La Fracture mérite la « Queer Palm 2021 »" . La Presse, 16 July 16.Yves Lafontaine, "Les films du Festival de Cannes en lice pour la Queer Palm" . Fugues, 29 June 2021. The DivideLa Fracture Catherine Corsini France Anaïs in LoveLes Amours d'Anaïs Charline Bourgeois-TacquetFrance Benedetta Paul VerhoevenFrance, Netherlands, Belgium Bruno ReidalBruno Reidal, Confession d'un meurtrier Vincent Le PortFrance Compartment No. 6Hytti nro 6 Juho KuosmanenFinland, Estonia, Germany, Russia Everything Went FineTout s'est bien passé François OzonFrance Ghost Song Nicolas Peduzzi Great FreedomGroße Freiheit Sebastian MeiseAustria, Germany The Hill Where Lionesses RoarLuaneshat e kodrës Luàna BajramiFrance, Kosovo Moneyboys金錢男孩 C. B. YiTaiwan, Austria, France, Belgium Neptune Frost Saul Williams, Anisia UzeymanRwanda, United States Paris, 13th DistrictLes Olympiades Jacques AudiardFrance Returning to Reims (Fragments) Jean-Gabriel Périot SoftiePetite Nature Samuel Theis Titane Julia DucournauFrance, Belgium Venus by Water Lin Wang Women Do CryЖените наистина плачат Vesela Kazakova, Mina MilevaBulgaria, France2022 "Pakistani trans drama wins Cannes 'Queer Palm' award". France 24, 28 May 2022."Cannes 2022 | 17 longs et 12 courts en lice pour la Queer Palm". Écran Noir, 15 May 2022. Joylandجوائے لینڈ Saim Sadiq Pakistan The Blue Caftanأزرق القفطان Maryam TouzaniFrance, Morocco, Belgium, Denmark Burning DaysKurak Günler Emin AlperTurkey, France Close Lukas DhontBelgium, France, Netherlands Continental Drift (South)La Dérive des continents (au sud) Lionel BaierSwitzerland, France Diary of a Fleeting AffairChronique d'une liaison passagère Emmanuel MouretFrance Dodo Panos H. KoutrasGreece France, Belgium Feminist RiposteRiposte féministe Marie Perennès, Simon DepardonFrance The Five DevilsLes Cinq Diables Léa Mysius Forever YoungLes Amandiers Valeria Bruni TedeschiFrance, Italy Irma Vep Olivier AssayasUnited States, France A MaleUn Varón Fabián HernándezColombia, France, Germany, Netherlands Moonage Daydream Brett MorgenGermany, United States PacifictionTourment sur les îles Albert SerraFrance, Spain, Portugal, Germany RodeoRodéo Lola QuivoronFrance Tchaikovsky's WifeЖена Чайковского Kirill SerebrennikovRussia, France, Switzerland Will-o'-the-WispFogo-Fatuo João Pedro RodriguesPortugal, France2023 "La Queer Palm au film japonais «Monster»". Le Devoir, 26 May 2023. Monster怪物 Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan Along Came LoveLe Temps d'aimer Katell Quillévéré France, Belgium Anatomy of a FallAnatomie d'une chute Justine TrietFrance HomecomingLe Retour Catherine Corsini How to Have Sex Molly Manning WalkerUnited Kingdom, Greece, Belgium The Idol (series) Sam LevinsonUnited States Kubi首 Takeshi KitanoJapan The Nature of LoveSimple comme Sylvain Monia ChokriCanada Power AlleyLevante Lillah HallaBrazil, France, Uruguay A PrinceUn prince Pierre CretonFrance Rosalie Stéphanie Di GiustoFrance, Belgium She Is ConannConann Bertrand Mandico A Song Sung Blue小白船 Geng ZihanChina2024