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
- Antonin Brousil, Czechoslovakian
- 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:
- A Telhetetlen mehecske by Gyula Macskássy
- Cinématographier or Préhistoire du cinema by Emile Degelin
- Corrida interdite by Denys Colomb Daunant
- Deca sa granice by Purisa Djordjevic
- Eine Stadt feiert Geburtstag by Ferdinand Khittl
- Espana 1.800 by Jesús Fernández Santos
- Fartsfeber by Finn Carlsby
- Histoire d'un poisson rouge by Edmond Sechan
- Hsi yu chi by Tei Yang
- La mer et les jours by Alain Kaminker, Raymond Vogel
- La primera fundacion de Buenos Aires by Fernando Birri
- Le petit pecheur de la Mer de Chine by Serge Hanin
- Le Seigneur Julius by Khaled Abdul Wahab
- Ligeud ad luftvejen by Henning Carlsen
- Butterflies Don't Live Here (Motyli zde neziji) by Miro Bernat
- Neobjknovennie vstretchi by Archa Ovanessova
- New York, New York by Francis Thompson
- Paese d'America by Gian Luigi Polidoro
- Pecheurs de Sozopol by Nikolay Borovishki
- See Pakistan by W.J. Moylan
- Sinn im Sinnlosen by Bernhard Von Peithner-Lichtenfels
- Taj Mahal (short film) by Shri Mushir Ahmed
- Ten Men in a Boat by Sydney Latter
- The Fox Has Four Eyes by Jamie Uys
- The Living Stone by John Feeney
- Tussenspel bij kaarslicht by Charles Huguenot Van Der Linden
- Zmiana warty (The Changing of the Guard) by WÃ
Âodzimierz Haupe
Official Awards
Main Competition
Short Films Competition
Independent Awards
Commission Supérieure Technique
References
Media
External links