CHEN KAIGE (winner, 1993, Farewell My Concubine)
Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine shared the 1993 Palm d'Or with Jane Campion's The Piano and he is so far the only Chinese director with the honour. He was in Competition twice before his win, and twice since. He is now preparing a biopic of Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
Because of the good reception after the premiere, I was looking forward to winning something. But when they announced my name I was still shocked. I remember I said that walking to the stage from the audience took me 10 years. I feel it's not just an honour for me, but for all Chinese film-makers.
How did you celebrate'
We opened a bottle of champagne but there was no big party. Back at the hotel I ordered room service, the waiter saw the Palme d'Or. He congratulated me in awkward English but it was the warmest English greeting I've ever heard.
How did it affect your career'
I think I was lucky to win the prize at 41. But the important thing is not the Palme d'Or: it's that more people were able to see the film.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Ingmar Bergman. His films are truly the voices of human hearts, especially in the era of commercially driven film-making.
How do you see the role of the festival changing'
I still enjoy going to the festival, seeing new movies and feeling the new trends of film-making. Cannes maintains a spirit of humanism in its selection.
What are your hopes and fears for the future'
Being a Chinese director, life can be quite dramatic. But you can't control the changing of time. You can only keep finding new working conditions and keep working. This is our task.
COSTA-GAVRAS - Winner 1982: Missing
Greek-born Costa-Gavras has been in Competition at Cannes three times: in 1969 with Z, which won the Jury Prize; in 1975 with Special Section, which won the best director prize; and in 1982 with Missing. The latter also picked up the best actor prize for Jack Lemmon.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
It was very special because we shared it (with Yilmaz Guney's Yol) and I think some people were waiting to see a Greek and a Turkish director do something negative. So when we were on stage together we hugged. I admire Guney very much and he did me, so it was a nice moment.
How did you celebrate'
We went to dinner and Jack (Lemmon) told a lot of jokes about us. I like to pick at other people's desserts, so Jack ordered all kind of desserts.
How did it affect your career'
I don't know if people say: "He won an award in Cannes so let's make another movie with him." It's good for the family, good for the friends. It's a nice object to have at home. I don't believe producers run after you because you have an award in Cannes. It makes your reputation better, but if your movie does well, then they run after you.
How has the industry changed during your career'
I don't like the word career, because it fits with politicians, with the military, with diplomats. We do a movie and then another and we don't know if we'll do a third. Each movie depends on the box office of the previous one.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
Festivals are important. Probably there are too many now and they're losing a little of their importance because there are too many.
ANSELMO DUARTE - Winner 1962: The Given Word
The 87-year-old Anselmo Duarte is the only Brazilian who has picked up the top prize at Cannes. His drama The Given Word (O Pagador De Promessas) won in 1962, when the unknown director nabbed the prize from under the noses of acclaimed film-makers such as Michelangelo Antonioni (with The Eclipse), Robert Bresson (The Trial Of Joan Of Arc) and Luis Bunuel (Exterminating Angel). But what should have been a glorious recognition of his talent became a curse. Harshly criticised in Brazil, Duarte felt persecuted and his career took a downturn.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
Because I had faith in my work, I wasn't so surprised. That's probably why I didn't cry, unlike my cast and crew.
How did you celebrate'
Because nobody believed we could win, nothing had been planned by the Brazilian consulate. They threw us a cheap party, where they served just pinga (liquor distilled from sugar cane). They didn't want to spend money on us.
How did it affect your career'
Things started going wrong afterwards. The Brazilian cinema community didn't appreciate my achievement and didn't support me in my next projects. When I received the Palme d'Or, some Brazilian critics and other directors started to question my victory. To make things worse, I was never the darling of the press.
Did it make it easier to attract funding'
No. Quite the opposite.
EMIR KUSTURICA - 1985: When Father Was Away On Business, 1995: Underground
Born in Sarajevo in 1954, double Palme d'Or winner Emir Kusturica returns to the Competition this year for the fifth time with Promise Me This. He was also jury president in 2005.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
The first time I was excited because it was a surprise. The second time, I was more excited because the Palme d'Or in 1995 defended my life and my political stance towards the breakdown of former Yugoslavia, which was very hard to defend at the time.
How did you celebrate'
The first time I had a modest but spectacular party at the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts. After Underground, the celebration became a sequel to a scene from that film: the calm beach of a Cannes hotel turned into a battleground with a serious fight between men in white shirts and men in black shirts. It concluded with a happy end and drinking together.
How did it affect your career'
The Palme d'Or brought me autonomy and freedom.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Shohei Imamura.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
Everything that was good in American film in the 1970s - the existentialism and social consciousness - ended with Star Wars. Then came a variety of technically perfect but superficial and spiritually void movies. What is left are sparks in the dark, like Tarantino, Jarmusch, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coen brothers - loners who saved the commercial in auteur film and auteur in commercial film.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
Festivals and the industry cannot exist without each other because festivals are the only places where films are judged by aesthetic criteria. The new media platforms can reform the importance of festival markets but they cannot change the need of people to see each other.
JEAN-PIERRE AND LUC DARDENNE - 1999: Rosetta, 2005: The Child
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are in the elite group of two-time Palme d'Or winners. They also appeared in Competition with The Son in 2002 (winning best actor for Olivier Gourmet) and agree that Cannes helped cement their reputations.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
It was a wonderful surprise for us both times.
How did you celebrate'
For Rosetta, we celebrated with the team drinking beer on the Majestic's terrace until 4am. For The Child we celebrated in the office of our international distributor, Hengameh Panahi, also drinking beers all night.
How did the wins affect your career'
They allowed our films to have worldwide distribution. The Child has now been released in more than 40 countries. Without Cannes our movies wouldn't have the same fame.
Did it make it easier to attract funding for subsequent projects'
Yes, definitely. But it is important to note that our budgets are relatively low. Our next movie won't exceed $5.4m (EUR4m).
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
In our hearts.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Charlie Chaplin.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
From the technical point of view, cutting scenes in the editing suite is now a lot easier thanks to advances in computer technology. And digital and high definition have meant that the quality of film is better, and it is cheaper and easier to use. From the financial point of view, European funding schemes such as Eurimages are really helping.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI - 1997: Taste Of Cherry
When Abbas Kiarostami's Taste Of Cherry shared the Palme d'Or with Shohei Imamura's Unagi at the 50th Cannes Film Festival in 1997, the Iranian auteur was no stranger to Cannes. Life And Nothing More had won the Un Certain Regard award in 1992; Through The Olive Trees screened in Competition in 1994; and Jafar Panahi's The White Balloon, which Kiarostami wrote, won the Camera d'Or in 1995. The Palme d'Or established Kiarostami internationally as the pre-eminent realist auteur.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
I had mixed feelings: happy, anxious, excited, overwhelmed, surprised ... All in all, very happy and very sad - maybe because of the fear the happiness won't last.
How did you celebrate'
Officially, the usual happenings, but unofficially, by phone - I called my best friends to share the news, in particular the main character in Taste Of Cherry who was following via satellite in Iran.
Did it make it easier to attract funding for subsequent projects'
I'm sure it did, but mostlyI felt more protected. It's hard to explain but when you are recognised internationally, you have more room to manoeuvre.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
I gave it to the Iranian Museum of Cinema.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
The DV camera, of course.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
Festivals are becoming more and more creative, coming up with brilliant ideas of how to offer interested people new insights and more food for thought. This should rightfully be the most important concern of any festival that considers itself as a cultural event.
What are your hopes and fears for the future'
Right now my fear is political: I fear that warmongers from everywhere in the world, regardless of their nationality or religion, are working hand in hand tomake the world an unsafe place for all of us to live in. My hope is that they won't succeed, but I'm very pessimistic right now.
LAST YEAR'S WINNER: KEN LOACH
Until May 26, Ken Loach is still the reigning king of Cannes. The 70-year-old British director was a surprise winner of the Palme d'Or in 2006 with his eighth film in Competition at Cannes, Irish civil war drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley. The socially conscious director previously won special jury prizes in 1990 for Hidden Agenda and in 1993 for Raining Stones.
He sees Cannes as the only must-attend event. "It's the whole industry in one place for 10 days," Loach says. "Somebody who is involved in films tends to go or at least really wants to be there."
Cannes has changed since Loach first arrived with Kes in Directors' Fortnight in 1970, he says. "The biggest change is the building. Before the Palais was there it was on a slightly smaller scale. It seemed more intimate then - it has got bigger and bigger."
However, the growing scope of the festival doesn't mean it neglects personal film-making. "It has stayed very important for the international film," says Loach. "It's the most important film event."
As a Cannes regular, winning the Palme d'Or took him by surprise. "We'd had the first screening in Competition. We thought people would have forgotten about the film by the end of the festival. We (he and producer Rebecca O'Brien) did press interviews for three to four days, then went home and put it out of our minds. I was contemplating cutting the grass when Rebecca called to say they wanted us to go back."
They got back to Cannes for the ceremony without knowing they were taking the big prize. "We're sitting in the audience and to compound my anxiety, a French distributor sitting in front of me said: "If you win anything they expect you to say something in French." So I started to panic about that and then suddenly we were on the last award."
The only problems with winning were stepping on the train of presenter Emmanuelle Beart's dress and not having his whole team there. "That was the only drawback. The film was such a team effort, you wanted everyone to share it." He did, however, manage a few gracious words in French.
His next project, contemporary drama It's A Free World (formerly known as These Times), is still in post-production (Pathe is handling international sales). It stars mostly unknowns in the story of an employment agency for immigrants in the UK. Modestly, he says: "The shooting is always quite exciting. But when you're so far into it, you tend not to know if it's any good or not."
Loach will be in Cannes this year with his three-minute contribution to shorts compilation Chacun Son Cinema. "It'll be a surprise when it's unveiled," Loach says.
QUENTIN TARANTINO
I love Cannes. I remember reading about Cannes when I was a little boy and just imagining going there and I got invited with Reservoir Dogs. Pierre Rissient saw the film and manoeuvred it for me to be there and I actually saw my first film in the Palais. I wasn't in competition but it was just fantastic. But there will be one moment that trumps them all and that's when I won the Palme d'Or - I heard Clint Eastwood say Pulp Fiction and then I jumped up like it was a football game. Not only is that my favourite memory of Cannes, that's like the favourite of all the accolades I've ever gotten. That's the number one. More than the Oscar, more than anything, I'm very proud to be in that club. I actually have a little theory. The only thing more prestigious than the list of directors who have won the Palme d'Or is the list of directors who haven't.
- Mike Goodridge
ROMAN POLANSKI - Winner 2002: The Pianist
Having presented several films in Cannes, Roman Polanski finally won the Palme d'Or in 2002 for The Pianist, which went on to win three Oscars including best director.
Part of this year's Chacun Son Cinema project - a compilation of specially commissioned shorts made by Cannes luminaries to mark the 60th edition - Polanski says that he is "looking forward to seeing what my colleagues come up with".
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
It is a joy to get such a coveted award and I have a long history with Cannes because the first time I went there I was a student of the film school in Poland - it was the only festival then, and it still is in a certain sense.
How did you celebrate'
I did not. I went back to Paris. I came to Cannes in the afternoon and left at midnight.
How did it affect your career'
If it did, I don't know. It is a personal satisfaction.
Did it make it easier to attract funding for subsequent projects'
I don't think the Palme d'Or helped anybody in any way because it does not have any commercial impact and that is the only thing that matters in funding a film. It is not like the Oscar.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
I keep it with a bunch of other awards on the shelf. It actually looks like a garage sale.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Federico Fellini.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
As you know, the whole industry depends on the studios that have evolved from single strong-willed individuals to a kind of committee with no particular direction.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
I went for the first time to Cannes when I was a film school student and it was virtually the only festival spoken about. Now there are over 400 festivals, more than there are days in a year, so I don't think they mean anything now. They became so banal.
What are your hopes and fears for the future'
I have constantly heard about 'the crisis of cinema' - literally from the moment I graduated from film school until now. There is only evolution and new technologies and the way we put movies together, and the way it is shown to the public as with every other industry ... it is nothing exceptional.
MIKE LEIGH - Winner 1996: Secrets And Lies
When UK director Mike Leigh won the Palme d'Or in 1996 for Secrets And Lies, its star Brenda Blethyn also picked up the best actress prize.
Leigh's first film in competition was 1993's Naked, which won the best actor and best director prizes. "I had been making films for a very long time before I got a film at Cannes," the director says. "It was a big breakthrough to be at Cannes at all."
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
The Palme d'Or experience is not just the moment you get it but the whole build-up during the festival ... And then you have this whole thing where you come back to London. I and my then wife Alison Steadman sat in the house and we kept getting contradictory messages (about whether to return to Cannes), before we got a message to go back and we went and we won. You know if you are called back that you have won something, but for all we knew it might have been best director or one of the other categories.
How did you celebrate'
The great thing is you don't have to go off and celebrate on your tod. A lot of people are involved, the distributors are there and there was a celebration party arranged. And you then get the best Cannes experience and have a lot to drink and all the rest of it.
How did it affect your career' Did it make it easier to attract funding'
Secrets And Lies is the most commercially successful film I've made. It did very well worldwide - it was nominated for five Oscars - and the Palme d'Or had a huge impact. There is no question that it helped us considerably in raising a much larger budget for the next-but-one film we made, which was Topsy Turvy - which had substantial French money in it.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
All the baubles that I or anybody has won - apart from actors - are all in the office in the West End (of London).
How do you believe Cannes has changed over the years'
As far as I'm concerned, and I speak both as a recipient and having been on the jury and having had the Oscar experience a few times, the important thing about Cannes is that it's become the focal point of world cinema outside the grip of Hollywood. And that is really important. And I find it very rewarding and very amusing and altogether a wholly excellent experience to see Hollywood tough boys not being able to get a grip on it, not being able to influence or nobble Cannes. They can go fuck themselves.
Best director'
I can't answer that, it's a ridiculous question. I'm not going to play that one.
CLAUDE LELOUCH - Winner 1966: A Man And A Woman
When A Man And A Woman scooped the Palme d'Or in 1966, its French director Claude Lelouch had already been hailed at festivals for such works as In The Affirmative and To Be A Crook. But the romance, starring Anouk Aimee, catapulted him to international fame and landed him not only the Palme d'Or but also two Oscars (for best foreign-language film and best original screenplay). Lelouch, also a producer, has gone on to make over 40 more films and shows no signs of slowing down.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
I was on my way to the Carlton Hotel in the afternoon and heard an Italian journalist screaming: "Lelouch has won the Palme d'Or!"
How did you celebrate'
We just got together with the actors. But that night Orson Welles received a special prize and so I was just really happy that he shook my hand. It was a pretty normal night; we were so happy and that was enough.
How did it affect your career'
Thanks to that I have been able to do what I want. It changed my life and opened doors to freedom and to not have to do films for hire.
Did it make it easier to attract funding'
People forget very quickly so it helps the next film or two but if those hadn't worked I wouldn't have been able to do the 40 next ones. It gave me the right to do two more films.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
In my office, protected on either side by the two Oscars.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Mikheil Kalatozishvili. He won for The Cranes Are Flying in 1958 and it's still one of my favourite films.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
The arrival of digital is a true revolution. Since I am very attached to actors, to be able to shoot for 40 or 50 minutes is a big revolution.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
Festivals will have more and more difficulty getting big films. There are fewer bad films but the big ones aren't like before. Films have become telefilms - they're all for prime time.
PAOLO AND VITTORIO TAVIANI - Winner 1977: Father And Master
Seven films by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani have been to Cannes - Father And Master won the Palme d'Or in 1977. Their next entry at Cannes, The Night Of San Lorenzo, took the Jury prize. They now present films out of Competition in order "to give a chance to others". The last film they presented at Cannes was The Elective Affinities in 1996.
How did it feel to win the Palme d'Or'
We got the prize from Roberto Rossellini who we considered our great maestro. We decided to make movies after seeing Paisan when we were kids. We considered the fact that he gave us the prize to be like a splendid circle that was completed.
How did you celebrate'
We had a lot of laughs with our wives and producer Giuliani (G de Negri) and Rossellini. Isabella Rossellini was there too and we decided she would star in our next film.
How did it affect your career'
After Father And Master we got approached by producers from all over - everyone wanted to make films with us but not the one we wanted to make - The Night of San Lorenzo - which we eventually made ourselves with long-time producer Giuliani de Negri. It was a big success.
After this win was it easier to attract subsequent funding'
Other than for San Lorenzo, yes, it became easier to make films because the international market asked for our films.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
It was stolen from Giuliani's office.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
We came to Rome to make movies and the joke in those days (1950s) was, "There is a blind man on the street asking for money but when you look closer it is a director and he is wearing a sign that says, 'I used to make movies.'"
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
The quantity of countries that produce beautiful films has increased so much that it creates a problem for festivals that have to select, and in so doing disregard, a lot of good cinema.
FOR MORE Q&AS WITH PALME D'OR WINNERS SEE SCREENDAILY.COM
"It will always be the best day of my life" Volker Schlondorff
"Serious film criticism is slowly dying. I cannot foresee what the cinema will be like tomorrow, the course seems uncertain" Theo Angelopoulos
"Winning the Palme D'Or introduced me to a lot of people throughout the world who didn't know me" Jerry Schatzberg
"Winning the Palme d'Or was astonishing. I knew we were making a quality film but I thought it wasn't going to be anything of any great significance" Alan Bridges
"I felt happiness because it had been a long job that wasn't at all easy" Nanni Moretti
"I believe that it contributed to the trust that I had already earned from my producer and from others that came after to let me make films that I wanted and how I wanted" Francesco Rosi
"To win a prize at Cannes signifies acquiring greater trust of producers. It is a currency that you can spend in terms of freedom for future projects"
- Ermanno Olmi
WIM WENDERS - Winner 1984: Paris, Texas
German director Wim Wenders has had eight films in the Cannes Competition, including 1993's Faraway, So Close, which won the Grand Jury prize, and Wings Of Desire, for which he picked up best director. Wenders won the Palme d'Or in 1984 for Paris, Texas.
What did it feel like to win the Palme d'Or'
Quite surprising, at first. From all the contenders, only John Huston and myself were left without an award when there was only the Palme d'Or left to be given. So when the Jury president Dirk Bogarde called my name, I looked with astonishment at Huston and he shrugged his shoulders, gave me a big smile and gestured that I better get up. Somehow, I remember that little gesture by John Huston better than anything that followed.
How did you celebrate'
Anatole Dauman, my co-producer, threw a party. Nastassja Kinski and Harry Dean Stanton were there. Sam Shepard didn't come because he would never take planes. I played pinball with Jim Jarmusch all through the night. Jim had won the Camera d'Or, so it was a great night for Wim and Jim.
Did it make it easier to attract funding for subsequent projects'
Not really. Maybe Wings profited a little bit from the success of Paris, Texas. But that was it. The time had ended when you could count on any previous work to help financing new films. Today, whatever you have done before, and whoever you are, you have to start each project from scratch. Your next film, its script and its cast, will be judged as if you were a newcomer.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
In the office. It's amazing how modest and small the Palme is. Most other prizes are hovering over it.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Terrence Malick.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
Cinema changes. Why should festivals remain the same' Both Cannes and Berlin have shown and demonstrated that in impressive ways. Sometimes it's a walk on a tightrope between the commercial trends and the new directions into which cinema is developing.
What are your hopes/fears for the future'
I very much hope that Cannes will continue what Gilles Jacob has demonstrated in the past 20 years with such competence and authority: to keep an equilibrium between mainstream demands and being a seismograph for the true contemporary cinema.
ANDRZEJ WAJDA - Winner 1981: Man Of Iron
Polish director Andrzej Wajda won the Palme d'Or in 1981 with Man Of Iron, but he says winning the Special Jury prize in 1957 for Kana made him a European director overnight. "I couldn't believe Cannes would notice an unknown young directorand a film from Poland which presented viewers an unknown episode from the Warsaw Uprising. It still amazes me," he says. Wajda has been in Competition at Cannes a further five times.
How did you celebrate'
We were a poor delegation from behind the Iron Curtain and the fact that I found myself in the magnificent Martinez hotel overlooking the blue sea was attraction enough.
How did it affect your career' Did it make it easier to attract funding'
This wasn't my problem - I didn't want to emigrate ... You must bear in mind that in the Polish film industry, money was not a problem - the problem was the censor's office and whether they'd accept the film.
Where do you keep your Palme d'Or'
At the Jagiellonian University Museum in Krakow, along with a Golden Lion, a Silver Bear and an Oscar.
To whom would you give an all-time Palme d'Or'
Undoubtedly it should go to someone old, and from among the great there is only one - Ingmar Bergman.
What have been the most important shifts in the industry during your career'
A camera preview monitor on the set. In the old times I used to stand next to the camera. These daysI hide somewhere from the actors and regret I don't look them in the eyes when they play in front of the camera.
How do you see the role of festivals changing'
There are certainly too many of them. I tell my students that in the old days it was a shame to return to Warsaw without a Palme d'Or. Now it is enough to get an award in Koszalin (a Polish film festival).
What are your hopes/fears for the future'
I fear something really worth seeing will happen somewhere in the world and I won't be there to see it.
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