1959 Cannes Film Festival

The 12th Cannes Film Festival took place from 30 April to 15 May 1959. French writer Marcel Achard served as Jury President for the main competition. The Palme d'Or went to the Black Orpheus by Marcel Camus. In 1959, the Marché du Film (lit. Film Market) was established as the business counterpart of the Cannes Film Festival, with the aim of helping meet the needs of film industry professionals. Before this year the market was held unofficially in the cinemas of the rue d'Antibes in Cannes. Another important development of that year for the Festival was that the French cinema moved away from the Ministry of Industry and became part of Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The festival opened with The 400 Blows by François Truffaut, and closed with The Diary of Anne Frank by George Stevens. == Juries == === Main Competition === Marcel Achard, French writer - Jury President Antoni Bohdziewicz, Polish filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis, Greek filmmaker Carlos Cuenca, Spanish Pierre Daninos, French writer Julien Duvivier, French filmmaker Max Favalelli, French Gene Kelly, American actor and filmmaker Carlo Ponti, Italian producer Micheline Presle, French actress Sergei Vasilyev, Soviet filmmaker === Short Films Competition === Philippe Agostini, French cinematographer and filmmaker Antonín Brousil, Czechoslovak Paula Talaskivi, Finnish Jean Vivie, French CST official Véra Volmane, French journalist == Official Selection == === In Competition === The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or: === Short Films Competition === The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or: == Official Awards == === Main Competition === Palme d'Or: Black Orpheus by Marcel Camus Prix spécial du jury: Stars by Konrad Wolf Best Director: François Truffaut for The 400 Blows Best Actress: Simone Signoret for Room at the Top Best Actor: Dean Stockwell, Bradford Dillman and Orson Welles for Compulsion Best Comedy Award: Policarpo by Mario Soldati International Award: Nazarín by Luis Buñuel Special Mention: The Snowy Heron by Teinosuke Kinugasa Award of the best selection to Czechoslovakia: Desire by Vojtěch Jasný A Midsummer Night's Dream by Jiří Trnka === Short Films Competition === Short Film Palme d'Or: Butterflies Don't Live Here by Miro Bernat Short film Jury Prize: New York, New York by Francis Thompson The Changing of the Guard by Włodzimierz Haupe Prix spécial du Jury: Histoire d'un poisson rouge by Edmond Sechan Special mention: Le petit pecheur de la Mer de Chine by Serge Hanin Hommage: La mer et les jours by Alain Kaminker, Raymond Vogel == Independent Awards == === FIPRESCI Prize === Hiroshima mon amour by Alain Resnais Araya by Margot Benacerraf === Commission Supérieure Technique === Technical Grand Prize: Honeymoon by Michael Powell === OCIC Award === The 400 Blows by François Truffaut == References == == Media == Institut National de l'Audiovisuel: Opening of the 1959 festival INA: Arrival of the celebrities in Cannes (commentary in French) INA: List of winners of the 1959 Festival (commentary in French) == External links == 1959 Cannes Film Festival (web.archive) Official website Retrospective 1959 Archived 2019-09-02 at the Wayback Machine Cannes Film Festival Awards for 1959 at Internet Movie Database