West German filmmaker Wim Wenders served as jury president for the main competition.

[4] American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for his debut film Sex, Lies, and Videotape.

[5][6][7][8] During the 1989 festival, the first Cinéma & liberté forum was held with the participation of a hundred famous directors from various countries.

They discussed about the freedom of expression and signed a declaration protesting against all forms of censorship still existing in the world.

[9] The festival opened with New York Stories, an anthology film by Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese,[10] and closed with Old Gringo by Luis Puenzo.