2003 Cannes Film Festival
The 56th Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 25 May 2003. French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer Patrice Chéreau was the President of the Jury. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Elephant by Gus Van Sant based on the Columbine High School massacre.
The festival opened with Fanfan la Tulipe, directed by Gérard Krawczyk and closed with , directed by Richard Schickel. Monica Bellucci was the mistress of ceremonies.
poster, adapted from an original illustration by Oswaldo Vigas.
Juries
Main competition
The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 2003 Official Selection:- Patrice Chéreau, Jury President
- Aishwarya Rai
- Meg Ryan
- Karin Viard
- Erri De Luca
- Jean Rochefort
- Steven Soderbergh
- Danis Tanović
- Jiang Wen
Un Certain Regard
- Abderrahmane Sissako President
- Alexis Campion
- Christine Masson
- Geoff Andrew
- Jannike Ahlund
- Pierre Todeschini
Cinéfondation and short films
- Emir Kusturica President
- Ingeborga Dapkunaite
- Mary Lea Bandy
- Michel Ocelot
- Zabou Breitman
Camera d'Or
- Wim Wenders
- Agnès Godard
- Alain Champetier
- Bernard Uhlmann
- Christian Vincent
- Claude Makovski
- Géraldine d'Haen
- Gian Luca Farinelli
- Laurent Aknin
Official selection
In competition - Feature film
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:- At Five in the Afternoon by Samira Makhmalbaf
- The Barbarian Invasions by Denys Arcand
- Bright Future by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- The Brown Bunny by Vincent Gallo
- Carandiru by Héctor Babenco
- Les Côtelettes by Bertrand Blier
- Dogville by Lars von Trier
- Elephant by Gus Van Sant
- Father and Son by Alexander Sokurov
- Incantato by Pupi Avati
- Little Lili by Claude Miller
- Mystic River by Clint Eastwood
- Purple Butterfly by Lou Ye
- Shara by Naomi Kawase
- Strayed by André Téchiné
- Swimming Pool by François Ozon
- That Day by Raúl Ruiz
- The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story by Peter Greenaway
- Tiresia by Bertrand Bonello
- Uzak by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Un Certain Regard
- All Tomorrow's Parties by Yu Lik-wai
- American Splendor by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
- The Best of Youth by Marco Tullio Giordana
- Crimson Gold by Jafar Panahi
- Drifters by Wang Xiaoshuai
- Japanese Story by Sue Brooks
- Kiss of Life by Emily Young
- Playing 'In the Company of Men' by Arnaud Desplechin
- Robinson's Crusoe by Lin Cheng-sheng
- September by Max Färberböck
- Soldiers of Salamina by David Trueba
- The Southern Cross by Pablo Reyero
- Stormy Weather by Sólveig Anspach
- A Story That Begins at the End by Murali Nair
- Struggle by Ruth Mader
- A Thousand Months by Faouzi Bensaïdi
- Today and Tomorrow by Alejandro Chomski
- Where Is Madame Catherine? by Marc Recha
- Young Adam by David Mackenzie
Films out of competition
- The Blue Light by Yukio Ninagawa
- ' by Richard Schickel
- Claude Sautet ou La magie invisible by N. T. Binh
- Coming and Going by João César Monteiro
- Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Kenneth Bowser
- Fanfan la Tulipe by Gérard Krawczyk
- The Fog of War by Errol Morris
- Ghosts of the Abyss by James Cameron
- Il grido d'angoscia dell'uccello predatore by Nanni Moretti
- The Last Customer by Nanni Moretti
- Mansion By The Lake by Lester James Peries
- Les marches etc... by Gilles Jacob
- The Matrix Reloaded by The Wachowskis
- Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin
- ' by Rithy Panh
- The Soul of a Man by Wim Wenders
- Time of the Wolf by Michael Haneke
- The Triplets of Belleville by Sylvain Chomet
- Who Killed Bambi? by Gilles Marchand
Cinéfondation
- 19 At 11 by Michael Schwartz
- Am See by Ulrike von Ribbeck
- Bezi zeko bezi by Pavle Vučković
- Dremano oko by Vladimir Perisic
- Fish Never Sleep by Gaëlle Denis
- Five Deep Breaths by Seith Mann
- Free Loaders by Haim Tabakman
- Historia del desierto by Celia Galan Julve
- Hitokoroshi no ana by Ikeda Chihiro
- Le pacte by Heidi Maria Faisst
- Like Twenty Impossibles by Annemarie Jacir
- Mechanika by David Sukup
- Rebeca a esas alturas by Luciana Jauffred Gorostiza
- Stuck by Jeremy Roberts
- The Box Man by Nirvan Mullick
- The Water Fight by Norah McGettigan
- TV City by Alejandra Tomei, Alberto Couceiro
- Empty for Love by Vimukthi Jayasundara
- Wonderful Day by Hyun-Pil Kim
- Zero by Carolina Rivas
Short film competition
- Cracker Bag by Glendyn Ivin
- L'enfant promis by Marsa Makris
- Fast Film by Virgil Widrich
- La fenêtre ouverte by Philippe Barcinski
- L'homme le plus beau du monde by Alicia Duffy
- L'homme sans tête by Juan Solanas
- Je germe by Esther Rots
- Mon frère aveugle by Sophie Goodhart
- Neige au mois de Novembre by Karolina Jonsson
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 42nd International Critics' Week :Feature film competition
- 20H17, Rue Darling by Bernard Edmond
- Deux Fereshté by Mamad Haghighat
- Elle est des nôtres by Siegrid Alnoy
- Entre ciclones by Enrique Colina
- Milwaukee, Minnesota by Allan Mindel
- Reconstruction by Christoffer Boe
- Since Otar Left by Julie Bertuccelli
- Belarra by Koldo Almandoz
- Derrière les fagots by Ron Dyens
- Love Is the Law by Eivind Tolas
- Maste by Erik Rosenlund
- La Petite Fille by Licia Eminenti
- The Truth About the Head by Dale Heslip
- Turangawaewae by Peter Burger
- Off the map by Campbell Scott
- Camarades by Marin Karmitz
- Condor : les axes du mal by Rodrigo Vasque
- Araki – The Killing of a Japanese Photographer by Anders Morgenthaller
- Good Night by Chun Sun-Young
- Nosferatu Tango by Zoltán Horváth
- B.B. & Il Cormorano by Edoardo Gabbriellini
Directors' Fortnight
- Bright Leaves by Ross McElwee
- Carême by José Álvaro Morais
- La chose publique by Mathieu Amalric
- Cry No More by Narjiss Nejjar
- Deep Breath by Parviz Shahbazi
- Feathers in My Head by Thomas De Thier
- Gozu by Takashi Miike
- The Hours of the Day by Jaime Rosales
- Interstella 5555 by Kazuhisa Takenouchi
- L'Isola by Costanza Quatriglio
- James' Journey to Jerusalem by Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
- Kitchen Stories by Bent Hamer
- Kleine Freiheit by Yüksel Yavuz
- Les Lionceaux by Claire Doyon
- Love Film by Júlio Bressane
- Mike Brant - Laisse moi t'aimer by Erez Laufer
- Le Monde vivant by Eugène Green
- The Mother by Roger Michell
- Naked Childhood by Maurice Pialat
- Niki and Flo by Lucian Pintilie
- No pasarán, album souvenir by Henri-François Imbert
- No Rest for the Brave by Alain Guiraudie
- Osama by Siddiq Barmak
- Saltimbank by Jean-Claude Biette
- Seducing Doctor Lewis by Jean-François Pouliot
- The Forest by Bassek ba Kobhio, Didier Ouénangaré
- Sansa by Siegfried
- Les Terres de l'ogre by Sami Kafati
- Watermark by Georgina Willis
- The Woman Who Believed She Was President of the United States by João Botelho
Awards
Official awards
The following films and people received the 2003 Official selection awards:- Palme d'Or: Elephant by Gus Van Sant
- Grand Prix: Uzak by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Best Director: Elephant by Gus Van Sant
- Best Screenplay: Les Invasions barbares by Denys Arcand
- Best Actress: Marie-Josée Croze for Les Invasions barbares
- Best Actor: Muzaffer Özdemir and Emin Toprak for Uzak
- Jury Prize: At Five in the Afternoon by Samira Makhmalbaf
- Un Certain Regard Award: The Best of Youth by Marco Tullio Giordana
- Le Premier Regard Award: Mille mois by Faouzi Bensaïdi
- Un Certain Regard Jury Prize: Talaye sorkh by Jafar Panahi
- First Prize: Run Rabbit Run by Pavle Vučković
- Second Prize: Historia del desierto by Celia Galan Julve
- Third Prize: TV City by Alejandra Tomei and Alberto Couceiro & Rebeca a esas alturas by Luciana Jauffred Gorostiza
- Caméra d'Or: Reconstruction by Christoffer Boe
- Caméra d'Or - Special Mention: Osama by Siddiq Barmak
- Short Film Palme d'Or: Cracker Bag by Glendyn Ivin
- Short Film Jury Prize: L'homme sans tête by Juan Solanas
Independent awards
- The Hours of the Day by Jaime Rosales
- Father and Son by Alexander Sokurov
- American Splendor by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
- Vulcan Award: Tom Stern for cinematography in Mystic River
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: At Five in the Afternoon by Samira Makhmalbaf
- A Thousand Months by Faouzi Bensaïdi
- International Critics' Week Grand Prix: Since Otar Left by Julie Bertuccelli
- Prix de la Jeune Critique: Milwaukee, Minnesota by Allan Mindel
- Canal+ Award: Love Is the Law by Eivind Tolas
- Kodak Short Film Award: The Truth About the Head by Dale Heslip
- Young Critics Award - Best Short: The Truth About the Head by Dale Heslip
- Young Critics Award - Best Feature: Milwaukee, Minnesota by Allan Mindel
- Grand Golden Rail: Since Otar Left by Julie Bertuccelli
- Small Golden Rail: Love Is the Law by Eivind Tolas
- Honorary Golden Palm: Jeanne Moreau
- Cinema Prize of the French National Education System: Elephant by Gus Van Sant
- Golden Coach: Mystic River by Clint Eastwood
- AFCAE Award: Osama by Siddiq Barmak
- François Chalais Award: by Rithy Panh
Media