1956 Cannes Film Festival

The 9th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1956. The Palme d'Or went to The Silent World by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle. The festival opened with Marie-Antoinette reine de France, directed by Jean Delannoy and closed with Il tetto by Vittorio De Sica.

In an effort to resolve some issues caused by the Cold War climate of the time, like special treatment towards Americans (who gave financial assistance to the festival) which displeased the Eastern Bloc, a decision to have films withdrawn under certain conditions had been put in place. This decision in turn had become a divisive issue in the festival, as it was seen as censorship. In 1956 it was decided to eliminate all such censorship from the selection and thereby start a new era in the festival.

Jury
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1956 competition:

Feature films Short films
 * Maurice Lehmann (France) - Jury President
 * Arletty (France)
 * Louise de Vilmorin (France)
 * Jacques-Pierre Frogerais (France)
 * Henri Jeanson (France)
 * Domenico Meccoli (Italy)
 * Otto Preminger (USA)
 * James Quinn (UK)
 * Roger Regent (France)
 * María Romero (Chile)
 * Sergei Vasilyev (Soviet Union)
 * Francis Bolen (Belgium)
 * Antonin Brousil (Czechoslovakia)
 * Henri Fabiani (France)
 * Paul Grimault (France)
 * Jean Perdrix (France)

Feature film competition
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:


 * Afternoon of the Bulls (Tarde de toros) by Ladislao Vajda
 * Christ in Bronze (Seido no Kirisuto) by Minoru Shibuya
 * Dalibor by Václav Krška
 * The Girl in Black (To Koritsi me ta mavra) by Michael Cacoyannis
 * Hanka by Slavko Vorkapić
 * The Harder They Fall by Mark Robson
 * The Hidden One (La escondida) by Roberto Gavaldón
 * I Live in Fear (Ikimono no kiroku) by Akira Kurosawa
 * I'll Cry Tomorrow by Daniel Mann
 * Item One (Tochka parva) by Boyan Danovski
 * The Leech (Shabab emraa) by Salah Abu Seif
 * The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Nunnally Johnson
 * The Man Who Knew Too Much by Alfred Hitchcock
 * The Man Who Never Was by Ronald Neame
 * Marie Antoinette Queen of France (Marie-Antoinette reine de France) by Jean Delannoy
 * Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta)' by Zoltán Fábri
 * Mother (Mat) by Mark Donskoi
 * Mozart by Karl Hartl
 * The Mystery of Picasso (Le mystère Picasso) by Henri-Georges Clouzot
 * Othello by Sergei Yutkevich
 * Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray
 * The Phantom Horse (Maboroshi no uma) by Koji Shima
 * The Protar Affair (Afacerea Protar) by Haralambie Boros
 * The Railroad Man (Il ferroviere) by Pietro Germi
 * Road to Life (Pedagogicheskaya poema) by Aleksei Maslyukov and Mechislava Mayevskaya
 * The Roof (Il tetto) by Vittorio De Sica
 * Seagulls Die in the Harbour (Meeuwen sterven in de haven) by Roland Verhavert, Ivo Michiels and Rik Kuypers
 * Seven Years in Tibet by Hans Nieter
 * Shadow (Cien) by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
 * Shevagyachya Shenga by Shantaram Athavale
 * The Silent World (Le Monde du silence) by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
 * Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) by Ingmar Bergman
 * Sob o Céu da Bahia by Ernesto Remani
 * Talpa by Alfredo B. Crevenna
 * El Último perro by Lucas Demare
 * The Unwilling Doctor (Toubib el affia) by Henry Jacques
 * Walk Into Paradise by Lee Robinson
 * Wild Love (Gli innamorati) by Mauro Bolognini
 * Yield to the Night by J. Lee Thompson

Short film competition
The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:


 * Aéroport de Luxembourg by Philippe Schneider
 * Andre Modeste Gretry by Lucien Deroisy
 * Le ballon rouge by Albert Lamorisse
 * Bwana Kitoko by André Cauvin
 * Ciganytanc by Tamas Banovich
 * Columbia Musical Travelark: Wonders of Manhattan by Harry Foster
 * La corsa delle rocche by Gian Luigi Polidoro
 * Crne vode by Rudolf Sremec
 * En de zee was niet meer by Bert Haanstra
 * The Face of Lincoln by Edward Freed
 * Festival Melody (Melodii festivalia) by Jerzy Bossak, R. Grigoriev, Ilya Kopalin, Iosif Poselski
 * Fuji wa ikiteiru by Kenji Shimomura
 * Gateway To the Antarctic by Duncan Carse
 * Gerald McBoing on Planet Moo or Gerald McBoing! Boing! on Planet Moo by Robert Cannon
 * Growing Coconuts by Fali Bilimoria
 * Horizons nouveaux by Kurt Baum
 * Karius and Bactus (Karius og Baktus) by Ivo Caprino
 * Kati és a vadmacska by Ágoston Kollányi
 * Katsura rikyu by Minoru Kuribayashi
 * Loutky Jiriho Trnky by Bruno Sefranek
 * Magdana's Donkey (Lurdzha Magdany) by Tengiz Abuladze and Rezo Chkheidze
 * Marinica by Ion Popescu-Gopo
 * Nicolae Grigorescu by Ion Bostan
 * Parabola d'oro by Vittorio De Seta
 * Les pécheurs du cap by Errol Hinds
 * Portrait of Soutland by Peter Roger Hunt
 * Povest za tirnovgrad by Yuri Arnaudov
 * Salut à la France by Ric Eyrich, Thomas L. Rowe
 * Salzburger Impressionen by Prof. Hanns Wagula
 * The Shepherd by Julian Biggs
 * Stvoreni syeta by E. Hofman
 * Svedocanstva o tesli by Vladimir Pogacic
 * Tant qu'il y aura des bêtes by Braissai
 * Teatr lalek by Marian Ussorowski
 * Together by Lorenza Mazzetti
 * Tovarishch ukhodit v more by Nikita Kurikhin
 * Vand fra eufrat by Theodor Christensen

Official awards
The following films and people received the 1956 awards: Short films
 * Palme d'Or: The Silent World (Le Monde du silence) by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
 * Jury Special Prize: The Mystery of Picasso (Le mystère Picasso) by Henri-Georges Clouzot
 * Best Director: Sergei Yutkevich for Othello
 * Best Acting Award: Susan Hayward for I'll Cry Tomorrow (in 1955 and 1956 this award was given without gender differentiation)
 * Best Human Document: Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray
 * Best Poetic Humour: Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) by Ingmar Bergman
 * Short Film Palme d'Or: The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse
 * Best Fiction Film: Magdana's Donkey (Lurdza magdany) by Tengiz Abuladze and Rezo Chkheidze
 * Best Documentary:
 * Andre Modeste Gretry by Lucien Deroisy
 * La corsa delle rocche by Gian Luigi Polidoro
 * Special Mention: Loutky Jiriho Trnky (The Puppets of Jiri Trnka) by Bruno Sefranek
 * Special Mention - Investigative Film:
 * Together by Lorenza Mazzetti
 * Tant qu'il y aura des bêtes by Braissai

Independent awards
OCIC Award
 * The Roof (Il tetto) by Vittorio De Sica
 * Special Mention:
 * The Railroad Man (Il ferroviere) by Pietro Germi
 * The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Nunnally Johnson
 * Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray

Media

 * British Pathé: Cannes Film Festival 1956 footage
 * British Pathé: Originals Cannes Film Festival 1956 footage
 * British Pathé: "Stars in the sun" 1956 Festival footage
 * INA: Atmosphere at the 1956 Festival (commentary in French)
 * INA: Opening of the 1956 festival (commentary in French)
 * INA: Closing evening of the 1956 Festival (commentary in French)