Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director

It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival.

At the 1st Cannes Film Festival held in 1946, René Clément was the first winner of this award for his work on The Battle of the Rails, and Miguel Gomes is the most recent winner in this category for his work on Grand Tour at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in 2024.

In 1968, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the May 1968 events in France.

One directing team has shared the award: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for Young Ahmed (2019).

Yuliya Solntseva became the first woman to win the award, for Chronicle of Flaming Years (1961).

Ingmar Bergman won for Brink of Life (1958)
Terrence Malick won for Days of Heaven (1978)
Werner Herzog won for Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Martin Scorsese won for After Hours (1983)
Robert Altman won for The Player (1992)
Mike Leigh won for Naked (1993)
Joel Coen won for Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
David Lynch won for Mulholland Drive (2001)
Paul Thomas Anderson won for Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Michael Haneke won for Caché (2005)
Sofia Coppola won for The Beguiled (2017)