Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress

The Best Actress Award (French: Prix d'interprétation féminine) is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and chosen by the jury from the films in official competition slate at the festival.

Best Actress Award
Prix d'interprétation féminine (French)
2022 Recipient: Zar Amir Ebrahimi
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actress
Country	France
Presented by	Cannes Film Festival
First awarded	1946
Currently held by	Zar Amir Ebrahimi Holy Spider (2022)
Website	www.festival-cannes.com/en/

At the 1st Cannes Film Festival held in 1946, Michèle Morgan was the first winner of this award for her performance in Pastoral Symphony, and Zar Amir Ebrahimi is the most recent winner in this category for her role in Holy Spider at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

History

The award was first presented in 1946. The prize was not awarded on three occasions (1947, 1953, and 1954). The festival was not held at all in 1948, 1950, and 2020. In 1968, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the May 1968 events in France. On four occasions, the jury has awarded multiple women (more than 2) the prize for one film. The four films were A Big Family (1955), Brink of Life (1958), A World Apart (1988), and Volver (2006). Vanessa Redgrave, Barbara Hershey, Helen Mirren, and Isabelle Huppert have won the most awards in this category, each winning twice. Hershey is the only actress to win the award in consecutive years, for Shy People (1987) and A World Apart (1988). Isabelle Adjani is the only actress to win the award for two different films in the same competition, for her roles in Possession and Quartet (1981). The award can be for lead or supporting roles, with the exception of the period from 1979 to 1981, when the festival used to award a separate "Best Supporting Actress" prize. The jury also, on occasion, cites actresses with a special citation that is separate from the main award.

Winners

Table key

#	Indicates Ex-aequo winners
	Indicates the Best Supporting Actress winner

Year	Actress	Role	Film	Original title	Ref.
1940s
1946	Michèle Morgan	Gertrude	Pastoral Symphony	La Symphonie pastorale	^[1]
1947	No award given that year
1948	Festival not held, no awards given that year
1949	Isa Miranda	Marta Manfredini	The Walls of Malapaga	Le mura di Malapaga	^[2]
1950s
1950	Festival not held, no awards given that year
1951	Bette Davis	Margo Channing	All About Eve		^[3]
1952	Lee Grant	The Shoplifter	Detective Story		^[4]
1953	No award given that year
1954	No award given that year
1955	Elena Dobronravova ^[A]^[B]	Katya Travnikova	A Big Family	Больша́я семья́	^[5]
	Vera Kuznetsova ^[A]^[B]	Agafya Karpovna Zhurbina
	Klara Luchko ^[A]^[B]	Lida Zhurbina
	Ekaterina Savinova ^[A]^[B]	Dunyasha Zhurbina
	Iya Arepina ^[A]^[B]	Tanya Zhurbina
	Larisa Kronberg ^[A]^[B]	Zina Ivanova
1956	Susan Hayward ^[A]	Lillian Roth	I'll Cry Tomorrow		^[6]
1957	Giulietta Masina	Maria "Cabiria" Ceccarelli	Nights of Cabiria	Le notti di Cabiria	^[7]
1958	Bibi Andersson ^[C]	Hjördis Petterson	Brink of Life	Nära livet	^[8] ^[9]
	Eva Dahlbeck ^[C]	Stina Andersson
	Barbro Hiort af Ornäs ^[C]	Nurse Brita
	Ingrid Thulin ^[C]	Cecilia Ellius
1959	Simone Signoret	Alice Aisgill	Room at the Top		^[10]
1960s
1960	Melina Mercouri #	Ilya	Never on Sunday	Ποτέ την Κυριακή	^[11]
	Jeanne Moreau #	Anne Desbarèdes	Seven Days... Seven Nights	Moderato cantabile
1961	Sophia Loren	Cesira	Two Women	La Ciociara	^[12]
1962	Katharine Hepburn ^[D]	Mary Cavan Tyrone	Long Day's Journey into Night		^[13] ^[14]
	Rita Tushingham ^[D]	Josephine ("Jo")	A Taste of Honey
1963	Marina Vlady	Regina	The Conjugal Bed	Una storia moderna - L'ape regina	^[15]
1964	Anne Bancroft #	Jo Armitage	The Pumpkin Eater		^[16]
	Barbara Barrie #	Julie Cullen Richards	One Potato, Two Potato
1965	Samantha Eggar	Miranda Grey	The Collector		^[17]
1966	Vanessa Redgrave	Leonie Delt	Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment		^[18]
1967	Pia Degermark	Elvira Madigan	Elvira Madigan		^[19] ^[20]
1968	Festival interrupted, no awards given that year because of the May 68 events in France
1969	Vanessa Redgrave	Isadora Duncan	Isadora		^[21]
1970s
1970	Ottavia Piccolo	Ersilia	Metello		^[22]
1971	Kitty Winn	Helen Reeves	The Panic in Needle Park		^[23]
1972	Susannah York	Cathryn	Images		^[24]
1973	Joanne Woodward	Beatrice Hunsdorfer	The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds		^[25]
1974	Marie-José Nat	Elle / Michel's wife	Violins at the Ball	Les violons du bal	^[26]
1975	Valérie Perrine	Honey Bruce	Lenny		^[27]
1976	Dominique Sanda #	Irene Carelli Ferramonti	The Inheritance	L'eredità Ferramonti	^[28]
	Mari Törőcsik #	Déryné	Mrs. Dery Where Are You?	Déryné hol van?
1977	Shelley Duvall #	Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux	3 Women		^[29]
	Monique Mercure #	Rose-Aimee Martin	J.A. Martin Photographer
1978	Jill Clayburgh #	Erica Benton	An Unmarried Woman		^[30]
	Isabelle Huppert #	Violette Nozière	Violette Nozière
1979	Sally Field	Norma Rae Webster	Norma Rae		^[31] ^[32]
	Eva Mattes	Marie	Woyzeck
1980s
1980	Anouk Aimée	Marta Ponticelli	A Leap in the Dark	Salto nel vuoto	^[33] ^[34]
	Milena Dravić   #	Kaca	Special Treatment	Посебан третман
	Carla Gravina   #	Carla	La terrazza
1981	Isabelle Adjani ^[E]	Anna / Helen	Possession		^[35] ^[36]
		Marya 'Mado' Zelli	Quartet
	Elena Solovey	Ona	Faktas	Факт
1982	Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak	Eva Szalanczky	Another Way	Egymásra nézve	^[37]
1983	Hanna Schygulla	Eugenia	The Story of Piera	Storia di Piera	^[38]
1984	Helen Mirren	Marcella	Cal		^[39]
1985	Norma Aleandro #	Alicia Marnet de Ibáñez	The Official Story	La historia oficial	^[40]
	Cher #	Florence "Rusty" Dennis	Mask
1986	Barbara Sukowa #	Rosa Luxemburg	Rosa Luxemburg		^[41]
	Fernanda Torres #	The Woman	Love Me Forever or Never	Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar
1987	Barbara Hershey	Ruth	Shy People		^[42]
1988	Barbara Hershey #	Diana Roth	A World Apart		^[43]
	Jodhi May #	Molly Roth
	Linda Mvusi #	Elsie
1989	Meryl Streep	Lindy Chamberlain	A Cry in the Dark		^[44]
1990s
1990	Krystyna Janda	Antonina 'Tonia' Dziwisz	Interrogation	Przesłuchanie	^[45]
1991	Irène Jacob	Weronika / Véronique	The Double Life of Veronique	La double vie de Véronique	^[46]
1992	Pernilla August	Anna Åkerblom Bergman	The Best Intentions	Den goda viljan	^[47]
1993	Holly Hunter	Ada McGrath	The Piano		^[48]
1994	Virna Lisi	Catherine de' Medici	La Reine Margot		^[49]
1995	Helen Mirren	Queen Charlotte	The Madness of King George		^[50]
1996	Brenda Blethyn	Cynthia Rose Purley	Secrets & Lies		^[51]
1997	Kathy Burke	Valerie	Nil by Mouth		^[52]
1998	Élodie Bouchez #	Isabelle 'Isa' Tostin	The Dreamlife of Angels	La Vie rêvée des anges	^[53]
	Natacha Régnier #	Marie Thomas
1999	Séverine Caneele #	Dominio	Humanité	L'humanité	^[54]
	Émilie Dequenne #	Rosetta	Rosetta
2000s
2000	Björk	Selma Ježková	Dancer in the Dark		^[55]
2001	Isabelle Huppert	Erika Kohut	The Piano Teacher	La Pianiste	^[56]
2002	Kati Outinen	Irma	The Man Without a Past	Mies vailla menneisyyttä	^[57]
2003	Marie-Josée Croze	Nathalie	The Barbarian Invasions	Les Invasions barbares	^[58]
2004	Maggie Cheung	Emily Wang	Clean		^[59]
2005	Hanna Laslo	Hanna	Free Zone		^[60]
2006	Penélope Cruz #	Raimunda	Volver		^[61]
	Carmen Maura #	Irene
	Lola Dueñas #	Soledad ("Sole")
	Blanca Portillo #	Agustina
	Yohana Cobo #	Paula
	Chus Lampreave #	Tía Paula
2007	Jeon Do-yeon	Lee Shin-ae	Secret Sunshine	밀양	^[62]
2008	Sandra Corveloni	Cleuza	Linha de Passe		^[63]
2009	Charlotte Gainsbourg	She	Antichrist		^[64]
2010s
2010	Juliette Binoche	The Woman	Certified Copy	Copie conforme	^[65]
2011	Kirsten Dunst	Justine	Melancholia		^[66]
2012	Cristina Flutur #	Alina	Beyond the Hills	După dealuri	^[67]
	Cosmina Stratan #	Voichita
2013	Bérénice Bejo	Marie Brisson	The Past	Le Passé	^[68]
2014	Julianne Moore	Havana Segrand	Maps to the Stars		^[69]
2015	Emmanuelle Bercot #	Marie-Antoinette Jézéquel	Mon Roi		^[70]
	Rooney Mara #	Therese Belivet	Carol
2016	Jaclyn Jose	Rosa	Ma' Rosa		^[71]
2017	Diane Kruger	Katja Sekerci	In the Fade	Aus dem Nichts	^[72]
2018	Samal Yeslyamova	Ayka	Ayka	Айка	^[73]
2019	Emily Beecham	Alice Woodard	Little Joe		^[74]
2020s
2020	Festival not held, no awards given that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Renate Reinsve	Julie	The Worst Person in the World	Verdens verste menneske	^[75]
2022	Zar Amir Ebrahimi	Arezoo Rahimi	Holy Spider	عنکبوت مقدس	^[76]

Multiple winners

The following individuals have received multiple Best Actress awards:

Wins	Actress	Nationality	Films
2	Vanessa Redgrave	United Kingdom	Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), Isadora (1969)
	Barbara Hershey	United States	Shy People (1987), A World Apart (1988)
	Helen Mirren	United Kingdom	Cal (1984), The Madness of King George (1995)
	Isabelle Huppert	France	Violette Nozière (1978), The Piano Teacher (2001)

See also

• Silver Bear for Best Actress
• Volpi Cup for Best Actress

Notes

A^ : This year the award was changed to Prix d'Interpretation (Acting Award), without gender differentiation.

B^ : The entire male and female cast of A Big Family (Больша́я семья́) was recipient of this award in a tie with Spencer Tracy for Bad Day at Black Rock.

C^ : This year award was given as Prix collectif d'interprétation féminine Un Certain Regard (Collective Female Acting Award - Un Certain Regard) to the female cast of Brink of Life (Nära livet).

D^ : This year award was given as Prix Le Premier Regard Un Certain Regard (Premiere Award - Un Certain Regard) to the lead male and female cast of Long Day's Journey into Night and A Taste of Honey (ex aequo).

E^ : Performer to receive a single award which honor the outstanding work in multiple different films in the same official competition slate.

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External links

• Cannes Film Festival official website
• Cannes Film Festival at IMDb 2010-04-11 at the Wayback Machine.