1961 Cannes Film Festival 1961 Cannes Film Festival The 14th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 18 May 1961. The Palme d'Or went to the "Une aussi longue absence", directed by Henri Colpi and "Viridiana", directed by Luis Buñuel. The festival opened with "Che gioia vivere", directed by René Clément. The festival also screened Shirley Clarke's debut film "The Connection" due to the efforts of the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. The success of the film caused the festival to create International Critics' Week the following year. The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1961 competition: Feature films Short
Cannes Film Festival origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with the Venice Film Festival, which at the time was shocking the democratic world by its fascist bias. The first festival was planned for 1939, Cannes was selected as the location for it, but the funding and organization were too slow and finally the beginning of World War II put an end to this plan. On 20 September 1946, twenty-one countries presented their films at the First Cannes International Film Festival, which took place at the former Casino of Cannes. In 1947, amid serious problems of efficiency, the