The 50th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1997. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to Ta'm e guilass by Abbas Kiarostami and Unagi by Shohei Imamura. Jeanne Moreau was the mistress of ceremonies.
The festival opened with The Fifth Element, directed by Luc Besson, and closed with Absolute Power, directed by Clint Eastwood.
Juries
Main competition
The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 1997 Official Selection: Isabelle Adjani (France) Jury President Gong Li (China) Mira Sorvino (USA) Paul Auster (USA) Tim Burton (USA) Luc Bondy (Switzerland) Patrick Dupond (France) Mike Leigh (UK) Nanni Moretti (Italy) Michael Ondaatje (Canada)
Caméra d'Or
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1997 Caméra d'Or: Françoise Arnoul (actress) (France) Gérard Lenne (critic) (France) Jiří Menzel (director) (Czech Republic) Julien Camy (cinephile) (France) Luciano Barisone (critic) (Italy) Nicolas Philibert (director) (France) Olivier Brunet-Lefebvre (cinephile) (France) Ulrich Gregor (cinema historian) (Germany)
Official selection
In competition - Feature film
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:
Assassin(s) by Mathieu Kassovitz
The Banned Woman (La femme défendue) by Philippe Harel
The Brave by Johnny Depp
The Eel (Unagi) by Shohei Imamura
The End of Violence by Wim Wenders
Funny Games by Michael Haneke
Happy Together (Chun gwong cha sit) by Wong Kar-wai
The Ice Storm by Ang Lee
Kini and Adams by Idrissa Ouedraogo
L.A. Confidential by Curtis Hanson
Nil by Mouth by Gary Oldman
The Prince of Homburg (Il principe di Homburg) by Marco Bellocchio
The Serpent's Kiss by Philippe Rousselot
She's So Lovely by Nick Cassavetes
The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan
Taste of Cherry (Ta'm e guilass) by Abbas Kiarostami
The Truce (La tregua) by Francesco Rosi
Welcome to Sarajevo by Michael Winterbottom
The Well by Samantha Lang
Western by Manuel Poirier
Un Certain Regard
The following films were selected for the competition of Un Certain Regard:
12 Storeys by Eric Khoo
A, B, C... Manhattan by Amir Naderi
After Sex (Post-Coitum, Animal Triste) by Brigitte Roüan
Akrebin Yolculuğu by Ömer Kavur
American Perfekt by Paul Chart
Brother (Brat) by Aleksei Balabanov
La Buena Estrella by Ricardo Franco
La cruz by Alejandro Agresti
East Palace, West Palace (Dong gong xi gong) by Zhang Yuan
Gudia by Gautam Ghose
Histoire(s) du cinéma by Jean-Luc Godard
The House (A Casa) by Šarūnas Bartas
In the Company of Men by Neil LaBute
Inside/Out by Rob Tregenza
Love and Death on Long Island by Richard Kwietniowski
Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember (Marcello Mastroianni: mi ricordo, sì, io mi ricordo) by Anna Maria Tatò Marius and Jeannette (Marius et Jeannette) by Robert Guédiguian Mrs Brown by John Madden Private Confessions (Enskilda samtal) by Liv Ullmann Sunday by Jonathan Nossiter Wind Echoing in My Being by Jeon Soo-il The Witman Boys (Witman fiúk) by János Szász
Films out of competition
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
Absolute Power by Clint Eastwood
The Blackout by Abel Ferrara
Destiny (Al-massir) by Youssef Chahine
The Fifth Element by Luc Besson
Hamlet by Kenneth Branagh
Michael Jackson's Ghosts by Stan Winston
Nirvana by Gabriele Salvatores
Voyage to the Beginning of the World (Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo) by Manoel de Oliveira Welcome to Woop Woop by Stephan Elliott
Short film competition
The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:
Le Bon Endroit by Ayelet Bargur
Camera obscura by Stefano Arduino
Final Cut by Justin Case
...Is It the Design on the Wrapper? (Est-ce à cause du dessin sur l'emballage?) by Tessa Sheridan Joe by Sasha Wolf Leonie by Lieven Debrauwer Over The Rainbow by Alexandre Aja Les Vacances by Emmanuelle Bercot
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 36th International Critics' Week (36e Semaine de la Critique):
