Despite being two of the longest running institutions in cinema, the Oscars and Cannes have not always been the best bedfellows. Only two films have won both the Palme d’Or and Best Picture, “Marty” and most recently “Parasite” (“The Lost Weekend” from 1945 shared the Grand Prix, the top prize from the festival at the time). But many more films that have played on the Croisette at Cannes have been nominated or won other big prizes from the Academy. These are the 17 films that both won the Palme d’Or and won an additional Oscar:
“Marty” (1955)
In the first year that Cannes started calling their top prize the Palme d’Or, the Delbert Mann drama and romance based on a Paddy Chayefsky teleplay won the film festival’s highest honor — and went on to earn four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing and Best Actor for Ernest Borgnine.
“The Silent World” (1956)
Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s pioneering, underwater nature documentary beat out films from Satyajit Ray, Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa and more to win the Palme d’Or, and it also took home the Best Documentary Oscar.
“Black Orpheus” (1959)
Marcel Camus’s dreamy, contemporary take on the Orpheus and Eurydice Greek myth won the Palme d’Or and the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
“La Dolce Vita” (1960)
Federico Fellini’s sensuous reverie of a film “La Dolce Vita” managed Oscar nods for Best Director and Screenplay, but only won for Best Costume Design.
“A Man and a Woman” (1966)
The Academy rewarded this French New Wave romance starring Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant with two Oscars, one for its screenplay and another for Best Foreign Language Film.
“MASH” (1970)
It’s surprising to see Cannes anoint a film as irreverent as Robert Altman’s screwball war satire “MASH,” but though the Oscars nominated it for Best Picture, the award went to another war film, “Patton.” “MASH” did pick up a win for Altman’s ingenious ensemble screenplay.
“Apocalypse Now” (1979)
Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war masterpiece was still a work-in-progress when it screened at Cannes, and it would split the Palme d’Or with “The Tin Drum” that same year. It was nominated for eight Oscars and won two, but lost Best Picture to “Kramer vs. Kramer.”
“The Tin Drum” (1979)
After splitting the Palme d’Or with “Apocalypse Now,” “The Tin Drum” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar with ease.
“All That Jazz” (1980)
Weirdly, Bob Fosse’s musical was nominated alongside “Apocalypse Now” at the 1979 Oscars, opening in December of that year, but it won the 1980 Cannes after cleaning up four Oscars just a month earlier.
“Missing” (1982)
Jack Lemmon won Cannes’ Best Actor prize for Costa-Gavras’s political thriller in addition to “Missing” winning the Palme d’Or. And Lemmon and co-star Sissy Spacek each scored acting nominations in addition to the film being nominated for Best Picture, but it only won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
“The Mission” (1986)
Starring Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons as Spanish Jesuits trying to save a native American tribe, Roland Joffe’s “The Mission” won the Palme d’Or and earned seven nominations but only one Oscar win for Best Cinematography.
“Pelle the Conqueror” (1987)
The legendary Max von Sydow plays a Swedish immigrant in Denmark in this Danish film that won the Palme d’Or, the Best Foreign Language Oscar and netted Sydow his first acting nomination.
“The Piano” (1993)
Holly Hunter won the Best Actress prize at both Cannes and the Oscars for Jane Campion’s drama that won the Palme d’Or and was nominated for eight Oscars in all.
“Pulp Fiction” (1994)
Much has been written about the bombshell Quentin Tarantino set off when “Pulp Fiction” debuted at Cannes and polarized audiences by winning the Palme d’Or, not to mention the cultural rift it created when it went head-to-head with “Forrest Gump” at the Oscars and lost.
“The Pianist” (2002)
Winning Best Director for Roman Polanski and Best Actor for Adrien Brody, “The Pianist” was a strong favorite to win Best Picture after winning the Palme d’Or, but it lost to the musical “Chicago.” Just don’t expect a repeat from Polanski anytime soon.
“Amour” (2012)
Michael Haneke had just won his second Palme d’Or for his sobering romance about old age “Amour,” and rightfully so. The film paired French New Wave legends Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva and scored five Oscar nominations in all, including Best Picture, but only came away with a win for Best Foreign Language Film.
“Parasite” (2019)
Before Bong Joon Ho’s masterpiece “Parasite” became an unlikely Best Picture winner, becoming the first international film to ever win the top Oscar, it was an equally surprising Cannes winner, taking the Palme D’Or from a field that also included “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” “Bacurau” and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” Bong not only became the first Korean director to ever win the Palme, “Parasite” was only the second film to win Best Picture and the Palme D’Or since “Marty.”
