Cannes record breakers

Cannes Film Festival's record breaking moments — including the longest standing ovation

The French film festival has a number of quirks to it

US Writer
May 22, 2024

Cannes Film Festival is one of the foremost major film festivals in the world, and this year is no different with a bumper list of stars attending. With Greta Gerwig heading up the role as jury president, the youngest since Sophia Loren took on the role aged 31 in 1966, this year there are a number of firsts taking place.

Kevin Costner premiered Horizon: An American Saga, his first directorial project since 2003, which received a seven minute standing ovation. Sounds intense, right? It's actually on par with the standing ovation received by Francis Ford Coppola, who showed Megalopolis, his first film since 2011. 

Standing ovations are one of the many unusual traditions of Cannes - most films receive one, with the shortest lasting approximately three minutes. With an incredibly active audience, it's not unusual for people to walk out or boo.

But who holds the record for the longest standing ovation? And will there be any record breaking moments? 

Here are Cannes' biggest records to break.

1/5

© Eddy LEMAISTRE

The longest standing ovation

The seven minute standing ovations received by Kevin Costner and Francis Ford Coppola this year can only be seen as light work when compared to the longest standing ovation.

Pan's Labyrinth received a rapturous 22 minute long standing ovation in 2006. While it didn't win the Palme D'Or, going to Ken Loach for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, it's certain that director Guillermo Del Toro has never forgotten the incredible reception to his film.

2/5

© John Shearer

The longest running screen time

American documentary The War ran for an astonishing 870 minutes - or 14.5 hours. Nowadays, the 2007 documentary by Ken Burns is split into seven parts, but during the festival it had to be split into four Special Screenings.

3/5

© Pool BENAINOUS/DUCLOS

The biggest walk out

Attracting film lovers from across the globe, Cannes isn't afraid to show films that might shock viewers - and with an incredibly active audience, it's no surprise when people walk out. 

The biggest walkout in the history of the festival happened during Gaspar Noé's 2002 film Irréversible, which depicted a gruesome 10-minute rape scene that left the victim, played by Monica Bellucci, in a coma. During the violent film, 250 people left and 20 people fainted. Things got so bad that the fire brigade was called in.

4/5

© Foc Kan

The film to win the most awards

This honour is shared across three different films, as Barton Fink (1991), Humanité, (1999), and The Piano Teacher (2001) all won three awards at the festival.

Barton Fink won the Palme d’Or, Best Director and Best Actor, while Humanité and The Piano Teacher both took home the Grand Prix, Best Actor and Best Actress.

5/5

© Pascal Le Segretain

The highest grossing Palme D'Or winner

Bong Joon-ho's Parasite not only made history as the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, but it's also the highest grossing Palme D'Or winner with a global box office takeaway of $262 million.

Sign up to Off Camera for all the gossip and goings-on from the wonderful world of TV and film

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More TV and Film

See more