Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) The Best Director Award () is an annual award presented at the Cannes Film Festival for best directing achievements in a feature film screened as part of festival's official selection (i.e. films selected for the competition program which compete for the festival's main prize Palme d'Or). Awarded by festival's jury, it was first given in 1946. The prize was not awarded on 12 occasions (1947, 1953–54, 1960, 1962–64, 1971, 1973–74, 1977, 1980). In addition, the festival was not held at all in 1948 and 1950, while in 1968 no awards were given as the
1968 Cannes Film Festival 1968 Cannes Film Festival The 21st Cannes Film Festival was to have been held from 10 to 24 May 1968, before being curtailled due to the turmoil of May 1968 in France. The festival opened with the restored version of "Gone with the Wind", directed by Victor Fleming. Peter Lennon's documentary "Rocky Road to Dublin" was to be the final film screened at the festival on 17 May. Immediately after the screening Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Lelouch and François Truffaut got on stage and announced that, in solidarity with the workers and the students who were protesting across France, the festival