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.

Main competition
The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 1996 Official Selection:
 * Francis Ford Coppola, American filmmaker - Jury President
 * Michael Ballhaus, German cinematographer
 * Nathalie Baye, French actress
 * Henry Chapier, French journalist, presenter and director
 * Atom Egoyan, Canadian filmmaker
 * Eiko Ishioka, Japanese artist and costume designer
 * Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Polish screenwriter
 * Greta Scacchi, Italian actress
 * Antonio Tabucchi, Italian writer
 * Trần Anh Hùng, Vietnamese-French filmmaker

Camera d'Or
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1996 Camera d'Or:
 * Françoise Fabian, French actress - Jury President
 * Gian Luca Farinelli, Cinephile
 * Ramon Font, Critic
 * Sandrine Gady, Cinephile
 * Jacques Kermabon, Critic
 * Daniel Schmid, Swiss director
 * Antoine Simkine, French member of the Fédération Nationale des Industries

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

Un Certain Regard
The following films were selected for the competition of 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
The following films were selected to be screened 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
The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:


 * 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 (Wind) by Marcell Iványi
 * The Beach by Dorthe Scheffmann
 * This Film Is a Dog by Jonathan Ogilvie

International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 35th International Critics' Week (35e Semaine de la Critique):

Feature film competition


 * Les Aveux de l’innocent by Jean-Pierre Améris (France)
 * Yuri by Yoonho Yang (South Korea)
 * Mi ultimo hombre by Tatiana Gaviola (Chile)
 * The Empty Mirror by Barry J. Hershey (United States)
 * The Daytrippers by Greg Mottola (United States)
 * A Drifting Life by Lin Cheng-sheng (Taiwan)
 * Not Me! (Sous sol) by Pierre Gang (Canada)

Short film competition


 * Planet Man by Andrew Bancroft (New Zealand)
 * A Summer Dress (Une robe d’été) by François Ozon (France)
 * La Grande migration by Youri Tcherenkov (France)
 * Le Réveil by Marc Henri Wajnberg (Belgium)
 * The Slap by Tamara Hernandez (United States)
 * La Tarde de un matrimonio de clase media by Fernando Javier León Rodríguez (Mexico)
 * Derrière le bureau d’acajou by Johannes S. Nilsson (Sweden)

Directors' Fortnight
The following films were screened for the 1996 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalizateurs):


 * 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 (Haggyállógva, Vászka) by Peter Gothar
 * Inside by Arthur Penn
 * Youth Without God (Jeunesse sans Dieu) by Catherine Corsini
 * Jude by Michael Winterbottom
 * Kids Return by Takeshi Kitano
 * Prisoner of the Mountains (Kavkazskiy plennik) by Sergei Bodrov
 * La Promesse by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
 * Lone Star by John Sayles
 * Macadam Tribu by José Laplaine
 * Mondani a mondhatatlant: Elie Wiesel üzenete by Judit Elek
 * Perfect Love (Parfait amour!) by Catherine Breillat
 * Pasajes by Daniel Calparsoro
 * Salut cousin ! by Merzak Allouache
 * Select Hôtel by Laurent Bouhnik
 * Trees Lounge by Steve Buscemi
 * White Night (Layla Lavan) by Arnon Zadok
 * Will It Snow for Christmas? (Y aura t’il de la neige à Noël ?) by Sandrine Veysset


 * Short films


 * La Faim by Siegfried (18 min.)
 * La Fille et l’amande by Bénédicte Brunet (15 min.)
 * Vacances A Blériot by Bruno Bontzolakis (25 min.)
 * Virage Nord by Sylvain Labrosse (15 min.)

Official awards
The following films and people received the 1996 Official selection awards: Golden Camera Short films
 * 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
FIPRESCI Prizes Commission Supérieure Technique Ecumenical Jury Award of the Youth Awards in the frame of International Critics' Week Award the First Multimedia Day at the 49th Cannes Film festival
 * Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh (In competition)
 * Prisoner of the Mountains (Kavkazskiy plennik) by Sergei Bodrov (Directors' Fortnight)
 * The Mail (Pasts) & The Ferry (Pramis) by Laila Pakalnina (Un Certain Regard)
 * 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 (Chun hua meng lu) by Cheng-sheng Lin & Drifting Clouds (Kauas pilvet karkaavat) by Aki Kaurismäki
 * Foreign Film: White Night (Layla Lavan) 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

 * INA: Opening of the 1996 Festival (commentary in French)
 * INA: List of winners of the 1996 festival (commentary in French)