The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then Mayor of Deauville Michel d'Ornano, with support from the Groupe Lucien Barrière in providing a luxurious setting for the Festival. Although not competitive at its origin, the festival began to award prizes for feature films in 1995 and short films in 1998.
In 1992, the city built a convention center to host the annual festival.
Awards
This award was named from 1995 to 2007 and in 1998 and 1999.
Year Film Director 1995 Living in Oblivion Tom DiCillo 1996 The Daytrippers Greg Mottola 1997 Sunday Jonathan Nossiter 1998 Next Stop Wonderland Brad Anderson 1999 Being John Malkovich Spike Jonze 2000 Girlfight Karyn Kusama 2001 Hedwig and the Angry Inch John Cameron Mitchell 2002 Raising Victor Vargas Peter Sollett 2003 What Alice Found A. Dean Bell 2004 Maria Full of Grace Joshua Marston 2005 Crash Paul Haggis 2006 Little Miss Sunshine Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris 2007 The Dead Girl Karen Moncrieff 2008 The Visitor Tom McCarthy 2009 The Messenger Oren Moverman 2010 Mother and Child Rodrigo García 2011 Take Shelter Jeff Nichols 2012 Beasts of the Southern Wild Benh Zeitlin 2013 Night Moves Kelly Reichardt 2014 Whiplash Damien Chazelle 2015 99 Homes Ramin Bahrani 2016 Little Men Ira Sachs 2017 The Rider Chloé Zhao 2018 Thunder Road Jim Cummings 2019 Bull Annie Silverstein 2020 The Nest Sean Durkin2021Down With the KingDiego Ongaro2022 Aftersun Charlotte Wells2023 LaRoy, Texas Shane Atkinson2024 In the Summers Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio2025 The Plague Charlie Polinger
The award was called ('Special Deauville Jury Award') from 1995 through 1997 and ('Special Jury Award of American Independent Film') in 1998 and 1999.
Year Film Director 1995 Denise Calls Up Hal Salwen The Brothers McMullen Edward Burns 1996 Bound The Wachowskis Welcome to the Dollhouse Todd Solondz 1997 In the Company of Men Neil LaBute Ulee's Gold Victor Nuñez 1998 High Art Lisa Cholodenko 1999 Twin Falls Idaho Michael Polish Guinevere Audrey Wells 2000 Memento Christopher Nolan Boiler Room Ben Younger 2001 Ghost World Terry Zwigoff 2002 One Hour Photo Mark Romanek L.I.E. Michael Cuesta 2003 Thirteen Catherine Hardwicke 2004 The Woodsman Nicole Kassell 2005 On the Outs Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik Keane Lodge Kerrigan 2006 Half Nelson Ryan Fleck 2007 Never Forever Gina Kim 2008 Ballast Lance Hammer 2009 Precious Lee Daniels 2010 Winter's Bone Debra Granik The Myth of the American Sleepover David Robert Mitchell 2011 The Dynamiter Matthew Gordon 2012 Una Noche Lucy Mulloy 2013 All Is Lost J. C. Chandor Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Sam Fleischner 2014 The Good Lie Philippe Falardeau 2015 Tangerine Sean S. Baker 2016 Captain Fantastic Matt Ross Wiener-Dog Todd Solondz 2017 A Ghost Story David Lowery Menashe Joshua Z Weinstein 2020 First Cow Kelly Reichardt Lorelei Sabrina Doyle 2021 Red Rocket Sean Baker Pleasure Ninja Thyberg 2022 War Pony Gina Gammell and Riley Keough Palm Trees and Power Lines Jamie Dack 2025 Omaha Cole Webley Olmo Fernando Eimbcke
The winner of the Deauville Audience Award is chosen by the festival attendees.
1989: Torch Song Trilogy by Paul Bogart 1990 (tied): Pump Up the Volume by Allan Moyle Tune in Tomorrow by Jon Amiel 1991 (tied): Trust by Hal Hartley Hangin' with the Homeboys by Joseph B. Vasquez 1992: In the Soup by Alexandre Rockwell 1993 (tied): El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez Naked in New York by Daniel Algrant Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me by Joel Hershman 1994 (tied): Go Fish by Rose Troche Clerks by Kevin Smith 1995: Living in Oblivion by Tom DiCillo 1997: The Myth of Fingerprints by Bart Freundlich 1998: Next Stop Wonderland by Brad Anderson 2000: Songcatcher by Maggie Greenwald 2001: Jump Tomorrow by Joel Hopkins 2002: One Hour Photo by Mark Romanek 2003: Dot the i by Matthew Parkhill 2004: Maria Full of Grace by Joshua Marston 2013: Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler 2014: Whiplash by Damien Chazelle 2015: Dope by Rick Famuyiwa 2016: Captain Fantastic by Matt Ross 2017: Gifted by Marc Webb 2019: The Peanut Butter Falcon by Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz 2020: Uncle Franck by Alan Ball 2022: Emily the Criminal by John Patton Ford 2023: LaRoy, Texas directed by Shane Atkinson
The International Critics' prize is an award presented at the festival.
1987: Hollywood Shuffle by Robert Townsend 1988: Patti Rocks by David Burton Morris 1989: Signs of Life by John David Coles 1990 (tied): Metropolitan by Whit Stillman Tune in Tomorrow by Jon Amiel 1991: My Own Private Idaho by Gus Van Sant 1992: Gas Food Lodging by Allison Anders 1993 (tied): Public Access by Bryan Singer The Wedding Banquet by Ang Lee, 1994 (tied): Federal Hill by Michael Corrente Little Odessa by James Gray 1995: Swimming with Sharks by George Huang 1996: Bound by The Wachowskis 1997: Sunday by Jonathan Nossiter 1998: Gods and Monsters by Bill Condon 1999: Being John Malkovich by Spike Jonze 2000: Memento by Christopher Nolan 2001: Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Cameron Mitchell 2002: The Safety of Objects by Rose Troche 2003: American Splendor by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini 2004: Maria Full of Grace by Joshua Marston 2005: Keane by Lodge Kerrigan 2006: Sherrybaby by Laurie Collyer 2007: Grace Is Gone by James C. Strouse 2008: Gardens of the Night by Damian Harris 2009: The Messenger by Oren Moverman 2010: Buried by Rodrigo Cortés 2011: Detachment by Tony Kaye 2012: The We and the I by Michel Gondry 2013: The Retrieval by Chris Eska 2014: It Follows by David Robert Mitchell 2015: Krisha by Trey Edward Schultz 2016: The Fits by Anna Rose Holmer 2017: A Ghost Story by David Lowery 2020 : The Nest by Sean Durkin 2021: Red Rocket directed by Sean Baker 2022: Aftersun directed by Charlotte Wells 2023: LaRoy, Texas directed by Shane Atkinson 2024: Color Book directed by David Fortune 2025: The Plague directed by Charlie Polinger
The (previously ) is awarded annually to a debut French film. It carries a grant of 3,000 euros for the awarded director-writer, 3,000 euros for the film's producer, and 10,000 euros for the French distributor to help promote the film. The award, which is named in honour of the former Mayor of Deauville and co-founder of the festival, Michel d'Ornano, is supported by the Franco-American Cultural Fund.
1992: Claire Aziza for 1993: Hélène Woillot for 1994: Marie-Hélène Saller for 1995: Gilles Malençon for 1996 (tied): Christophe Mordellet for Silhouette Éric Vernhes for 1997: Gilles Malençon for 1998: Siegfried for Louise (Take 2) 1999: Stéphane Brizé and Florence Vignon for 2000: Virginie Wagon and Érick Zonca for 2001: Gilles Paquet-Brenner for Pretty Things 2002: Claude Duty for 2003: Julie Bertuccelli for Since Otar Left 2004: Éléonore Faucher and Gaëlle Macé for A Common Thread 2005: Karin Albou for Little Jerusalem 2006: Julie Gavras for Blame It on Fidel 2007: Marc Fitoussi for 2008: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire for Johnny Mad Dog 2009: Léa Fehner for Silent Voice 2010: Alix Delaporte for Angel & Tony 2011: Delphine and Muriel Coulin for 17 Girls 2012: Rachid Djaïdani for Hold Back 2013: Guillaume Gallienne for Me, Myself and Mum 2014: Jeanne Herry for 2015: Thomas Bidegain for The Cowboys 2016: Ludovic Boukherma, Zoran Boukherma, Marielle Gautier and Hugo P. Thomas for 2017: Léonor Serraille for 2020: Charlène Favier for Slalom 2021: Vincent Maël Cardona for 2022: Charlotte Le Bon for Falcon Lake
The Revelation Prize recognises an original work by a promising new filmmaker and is awarded by a Revelation jury composed of up-and-coming actors and filmmakers.
2006: Half Nelson by Ryan Fleck 2007: Rocket Science by Jeffrey Blitz 2008: Ballast by Lance Hammer 2009: The Messenger by Oren Moverman 2010: Holy Rollers by Kevin Asch 2011: Detachment by Tony Kaye 2012: Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin 2013: Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler 2014: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night by Ana Lily Amirpour 2015: James White by Josh Mond 2016: Wiener-Dog by Todd Solondz 2017: A Ghost Story by David Lowery 2020: The Nest by Sean Durkin 2021: John and the Hole by Pascual Sisto 2022: War Pony by Gina Gammell and Riley Keough 2025: The Chronology of Water by Kristen Stewart
The Screenplay Prize was awarded in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and then discontinued.
2004: The Final Cut by Omar Naim 2005: Transamerica by Duncan Tucker 2006: Sherrybaby by Laurie Collyer
The Jury 1995 : Andrei Konchalovsky (president), Anouk Aimée, Michael Lonsdale, Claudie Ossard, René Bonnell, Valérie Kaprisky, Steven Zaillian, Mathilda May, Élie Chouraqui and Yvan Attal. 1996 : Charlotte Rampling (president), Sabine Azéma, René Cleitman, Dominique Farrugia, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chiara Mastroianni, Laura Morante, Ornella Muti, Melvil Poupaud and Alain Rocca. 1997 : Sophie Marceau (president), Élodie Bouchez, Philippe Carcassonne, Étienne Chatiliez, Alain Finkielkraut, John Hurt, Michèle Laroque, Inés Sastre, Nathalie Quintane and Lambert Wilson. 1998 : Jean-Paul Rappeneau (president), Michèle Halberstadt, Sandrine Kiberlain, Virginie Ledoyen, Russell Banks, Maurice Bernart, Alessandro Gassmann, Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Éric Serra and Christian Vincent (director). 1999 : Régis Wargnier (president), Jean-Hugues Anglade, Humbert Balsan, Richard Berry, Gabriel Byrne, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Marie Gillain, Michel Houellebecq, Marie-France Pisier and Elsa Zylberstein. 2000 : Neil Jordan (president), Guillaume Canet, Clotilde Courau, Tchéky Karyo, Philippe Labro, Samuel Le Bihan, François Ozon, Vincent Perez, Danièle Thompson and Marie Trintignant. 2001 : Jean-Jacques Annaud (president), Sandrine Bonnaire, Marion Cotillard, Arielle Dombasle, Gérard Darmon, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Darius Khondji, Benoît Poelvoorde and Gabriel Yared. 2002 : Pierre Lescure (president), Chantal Akerman, Richard Anconina, Jean-Marc Barr, Charles Berling, Amira Casar, Julie Gayet, Irène Jacob, Cédric Kahn and Bruno Wolkowitch. 2003 : Roman Polanski (president), Claudia Cardinale, Paweł Edelman, Jacques Fieschi, Ben Kingsley, Anne Parillaud, Zbigniew Preisner, Ludivine Sagnier, Fernando Trueba and Tom Tykwer. 2004 : Claude Lelouch (president), Anouk Aimée, Marie-Josée Croze, Danièle Heymann, Diane Kurys, Jeanne Labrune, Lio, Claudie Ossard, Bettina Rheims and Mathilde Seigner. 2005 : Alain Corneau (president), Enki Bilal, Dominique Blanc, Romane Bohringer, Rachida Brakni, Christophe, Dominik Moll, Melvil Poupaud and Brigitte Roüan. 2006 : Nicole Garcia (president), Maurice Barthélémy, Guillaume Canet, Amira Casar, Emmanuelle Castro, Antoine de Caunes, Julien Clerc, Philippe Djian and Marthe Keller. 2007 : André Téchiné (president), Odile Barski, Xavier Beauvois, Nicolas Cazalé, Charlélie Couture, Émilie Deleuze, Anouk Grinberg and Marie-France Pisier. 2008 : Carole Bouquet (president), Édouard Baer, Ronit Elkabetz, Diane Fleri, Pierre Jolivet, Cédric Kahn, Cristian Mungiu, Leonor Silveira and Dean Tavoularis. 2009 : Jean-Pierre Jeunet (president), Hiam Abbass, Dany Boon, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Émilie Dequenne, Déborah François, Sandrine Kiberlain, Patrice Leconte, Géraldine Pailhas and Bruno Podalydès. 2010 : Emmanuelle Béart (president), Lucas Belvaux, Jeanne Balibar, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Christine Citti, Fabrice Du Welz, Tony Gatlif, Denis Lavant and Abderrahmane Sissako. 2011 : Olivier Assayas (president), Nathalie Baye, Claire Denis, Nicolas Godin, Chiara Mastroianni, Angelin Preljocaj, Jean Rolin et Bruno Todeschini. 2012 : Sandrine Bonnaire (president), Clotilde Courau, Sami Bouajila, Christophe Honoré, Anaïs Demoustier, Alice Taglioni, Philippe Decouflé, Joann Sfar and Florent Emilio Siri. 2013 : Vincent Lindon (president), Lou Doillon, Jean Echenoz, Hélène Fillières, Xavier Giannoli, Famke Janssen, Pierre Lescure, Bruno Nuytten and Rebecca Zlotowski.