1979 Cannes Film Festival
The 32nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 24 May 1979. The Palme d'Or went to Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola, which was screened as a work in progress, and Die Blechtrommel by Volker Schlöndorff.
The festival opened with Hair, directed by Miloš Forman and closed with À nous deux, directed by Claude Lelouch.
Françoise Sagan, the President of the Jury raised a controversy as she complained that Robert Favre Le Bret, director of the Festival, had stepped out of his role and had put pressure on the jury for the choice of Coppola's film, while she had defended The Tin Drum to the last minute of the competition. Finally the Palme d'Or was given to both films.
Jury
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1979 feature film competition:Feature films
- Françoise Sagan Jury President
- Sergio Amidei
- Rodolphe-Maurice Arlaud
- Luis García Berlanga
- Maurice Bessy
- Paul Claudon
- Jules Dassin
- Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács
- Robert Rozhdestvensky
- Susannah York
Official selection
In competition - Feature film
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:- Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola
- Arven by Anja Breien
- The Bronte Sisters by André Téchiné
- The China Syndrome by James Bridges
- Days of Heaven by Terrence Malick
- Dear Father by Dino Risi
- The Europeans by James Ivory
- Hungarian Rhapsody by Miklós Jancsó
- The Hussy by Jacques Doillon
- My Brilliant Career by Gillian Armstrong
- Norma Rae by Martin Ritt
- Occupation in 26 Pictures by Lordan Zafranović
- Série noire by Alain Corneau
- Siberiade by Andrei Konchalovsky
- The Survivors by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
- The Tin Drum by Volker Schlöndorff
- Traffic Jam by Luigi Comencini
- Victoria by Bo Widerberg
- Without Anesthesia by Andrzej Wajda
- Woman Between Wolf and Dog by André Delvaux
- Woyzeck by Werner Herzog
Un Certain Regard
- Come and Work by Safi Faye
- Companys, procés a Catalunya by Josep Maria Forn
- Encore un Hiver by Françoise Sagan
- From the Cloud to the Resistance by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet
- Moments by Michal Bat-Adam
- A Nice Neighbor by Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács
- Les petites fugues by Yves Yersin
- Printemps en Février by Shei Tieli
- A Scream from Silence by Anne Claire Poirier
- Spirit of the Wind by Ralph Liddle
- The Third Generation by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Ward Six by Lucian Pintilie
Films out of competition
- Christ Stopped at Eboli by Francesco Rosi
- Hair by Miloš Forman
- Manhattan by Woody Allen
- Le Musee du Louvre by Toshio Uruta
- Orchestra Rehearsal by Federico Fellini
- Us Two by Claude Lelouch
- Wise Blood by John Huston
Short film competition
- Barbe bleue by Olivier Gillon
- Bum by Břetislav Pojar
- La Dame de Monte Carlo by Dominique Delouche
- La Festa dels bojos by Lluis Racionero Grau
- Harpya by Raoul Servais
- Helping Hand by John P. Taylor, Zlatko Pavlinovic
- Le Mur by Jan January Janczak
- Petite histoire un peu triste by Didier Pourcel
- Põld by Rein Raamat
- The Waltzing Policemen by Kerry Feltham
- Zwei Frauen in der Oper by Christian Veit-Attendorff
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following feature films were screened for the 18th International Critics' Week :- by
- Fremd bin ich eingezogen by Titus Leber
- Jun by Hiroto Yokoyama
- Northern Lights by John Hanson, Rob Nilsson
- La Rabi by Eugeni Anglada
- Les Servantes du bon dieu by Diane Létourneau
- The Tall Shadows of the Wind by Bahman Farmanara
Directors' Fortnight
- Angi Vera by Pal Gabor
- Bastien, Bastienne by Michel Andrieu
- Black Jack by Ken Loach
- Caniche by Bigas Luna
- Chrissomaloussa by Tony Lycouressis
- Cronica de um Industrial by Luis Rosemberg
- Julio Begins in July by Silvio Caiozzi
- The Management Forgives a Moment of Madness by Mauricio Walerstein
- La Mémoire Courte by Eduardo de Gregorio
- Nighthawks by Ron Peck
- Old Boyfriends by Joan Tewkesbury
- Five Evenings by Nikita Mikhalkov
- Rockers by Theodoros Bafaloukos
- Those Wonderful Movie Cranks by Jiri Menzel
- Tiro by Jacob Bijl
- To Be Sixteen by Jean Pierre Lefebvre
- Zmory by Wojciech Marczewski
- Combattimento by Anna Kendall
- Idila by Aleksandar Ilić
- Panoplie by Philippe Gaucherand
- Romance by Yves Thomas
- Vereda Tropical by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade
Awards
Official awards
The following films and people received the 1979 Official selection awards:- Palme d'Or:
- *Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola
- *Die Blechtrommel by Volker Schlöndorff
- Grand Prix: Siberiade by Andrei Konchalovsky
- Best Director: Terrence Malick for Days of Heaven
- Best Actress: Sally Field for Norma Rae
- Best Actor: Jack Lemmon for The China Syndrome
- Best Supporting Actress: Eva Mattes for Woyzeck
- Best Supporting Actor: Stefano Madia for Dear Father
- Caméra d'Or: Northern Lights by John Hanson and Rob Nilsson
- Short Film Palme d'Or: Harpya by Raoul Servais
- Jury Prize- animation: Bum by Břetislav Pojar
- Jury Prize- fiction: La Festa dels bojos by Lluis Racionero Grau
Independent awards
- Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola
- Black Jack by Ken Loach
- Angi Vera by Pál Gábor
- Technical Grand Prize: Norma Rae by Martin Ritt
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Without Anesthesia by Andrzej Wajda
- Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention: Arven by Anja Breien
- Prix du jeune cinéma: The Hussy by Jacques Doillon
- Honorary Award: "Hommage à Miklós Jancsó" for all his work
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