L'Œil d'or (, "The Golden Eye") is a documentary film award created in 2015. It is awarded to the best documentary presented in one of the sections of the Cannes Film Festival (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week, and Acid).
History
Initiated by the Civil Society of Multimedia Authors (SCAM - Société Civile des Auteurs Multimédia) and its president Julie Bertuccelli, the prize is awarded in partnership with the Institut national de l'audiovisuel with the support of Cannes Film Festival and its General Delegate Thierry Frémaux. Since 2017, the Audiens Cultural Personal Joint Group has also been a partner.
The €5,000 prize is presented to the director of the winning film at an official ceremony in Cannes. It was presented for the first time on 23 May 2015 at the Palais des Festivals.
The jury is usually headed by renowned documentary filmmakers, which generally also award a special mention to the runner-up film.
Marcia Tambutti Allende's Beyond My Grandfather Allende, selected to the Directors' Fortnight section, was the first winner at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Jury Presidents Year NameNationality 2015 Rithy PanhCambodia2016Gianfranco RosiItaly2017Sandrine BonnaireFrance2018Emmanuel Finkiel2019Yolande Zauberman2021Ezra EdelmanUnited States2022Agnieszka HollandPoland2023Kirsten JohnsonUnited States2024Nicolas PhilibertFrance2025 Julie Gayet2026Mstyslav ChernovUkraine
Winners
2010s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Country of Production 2015Beyond My Grandfather AllendeAllende, mi abuelo Allende Marcia Tambutti Allende Chile, Mexico 2016Cinema Novo Eryk Rocha Brazil 2017Faces PlacesVisages Villages Agnès Varda and JR France 2018Samouni RoadLa strada dei Samouni Stefano Savona Italy 2019For Sama Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts Syria, United KingdomThe Cordillera of DreamsLa Cordillère des songes Patricio Guzmán France, Chile
2020s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Country of Production 2021A Night of Knowing Nothing Payal Kapadia India 2022All That Breathes Shaunak Sen India 2023Four Daughters Kaouther Ben Hania Tunisia, France, GermanyThe Mother of All Lies Asmae El Moudir Morocco, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia 2024Ernest Cole: Lost and FoundRaoul PeckFrance, United StatesThe Brink of DreamsNada Riyadh and Ayman El AmirEgypt, France, Denmark, Qatar, Saudi Arabia2025ImagoDéni Oumar PitsaevFrance, Belgium2026Rehearsals for a Revolutionخاطرات ایرانPegah AhangaraniIran, Czech Republic, Spain
Special Mention In addition to the main winners of L'Œil d'or, some films have received a special mention: Year English Title Original title Director(s) Country of Production 2015 Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own WordsJag är Ingrid Stig Björkman Sweden 2016 The Cinema Travellers Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya India 2017 Makala Emmanuel Gras France 2018 Libre Michel Toesca The Eyes of Orson Welles Mark Cousins United Kingdom2025The Six Billion Dollar ManEugene JareckiUnited States, Germany, France2026Tin CastleAlexander MurphyIreland, France
References
External links Official Website of the SCAM Cannes Film Festival's Official Website