The 50th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 18 May 1997. French actress Isabelle Adjani served as jury president for the main competition. Jeanne Moreau hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami for the drama film Taste of Cherry and to Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura for the drama film The Eel.
The festival opened with The Fifth Element by Luc Besson, and closed with Absolute Power by Clint Eastwood.
Juries
Main competition
- Isabelle Adjani, French actress - Jury President
- Paul Auster, American filmmaker
- Luc Bondy, Swiss director
- Tim Burton, American filmmaker
- Patrick Dupond, French dancer and artistic director
- Gong Li, Chinese actress
- Mike Leigh, British filmmaker
- Nanni Moretti, Italian filmmaker
- Michael Ondaatje, Canadian author
- Mira Sorvino, American actress
Caméra d'Or
- Françoise Arnol, French actress - Jury President
- Luciano Barisone, Italian film critic
- Olivier Brunet-Lefebvre, French cinephile
- Julien Camy, French cinephile
- Ulrich Gregor, German cinema historian
- Gérard Lenne, French film critic
- Jiří Menzel, Czech filmmaker
- Nicolas Philibert, French filmmaker
Official selection
In Competition
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:
Un Certain Regard
The following films were selected for the Un Certain Regard section:
Out of Competition
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
Short Films Competition
The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 36th International Critics' Week (36e Semaine de la Critique):
Feature film competition
Short film competition
Directors' Fortnight
The following films were screened for the 1997 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalizateurs):
- Short films
Official Awards
In Competition
- Palme d'Or:
- Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami
- The Eel by Shōhei Imamura
- Grand Prize of the Jury: The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan
- Best Director: Wong Kar-wai for Happy Together
- Best Screenplay: The Ice Storm by James Schamus
- Best Actress: Kathy Burke for Nil by Mouth
- Best Actor: Sean Penn for She's So Lovely
- Jury Prize: Western by Manuel Poirier
- 50th Anniversary Prize: Youssef Chahine (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Palm of the Palms: Ingmar Bergman
Caméra d'Or
- Suzaku by Naomi Kawase
- Special Mention: La Vie de Jésus by Bruno Dumont
Short Film Palme d'Or
- ...Is It the Design on the Wrapper? by Tessa Sheridan
- Jury Prize:
- Leonie by Lieven Debrauwer
- Les Vacances by Emmanuelle Bercot
Independent Awards
FIPRESCI Prizes
- The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan (In competition)
- Voyage to the Beginning of the World by Manoel de Oliveira (Out of competition)
Commission Supérieure Technique
- Technical Grand Prize: Thierry Arbogast (cinematography) in She's So Lovely and The Fifth Element
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
- The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan
- Special Mention:
- Lucky Star by Ricardo Franco
- Voyage to the Beginning of the World by Manoel de Oliveira
- Special Mention:
Award of the Youth
- Foreign Film: Bent by Sean Mathias
- French Film: I Hate Love by Laurence Ferreira Barbosa
International Critics' Week
- Mercedes-Benz Award: Junk Mail by Pål Sletaune
- Canal Award: The Signalman by Benoît Mariage
François Chalais Award
- The Perfect Circle by Ademir Kenović
References
Media
- INA: Climbing of the steps for the opening of the 1997 Festival (commentary in French)
- INA: List of winners of the 1997 festival (commentary in French)
External links
- 1997 Cannes Film Festival (web.archive)
- Official website Retrospective 1997 Archived 2019-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Cannes Film Festival Awards 1997 at Internet Movie Database
