The Jury Prize (French: Prix du Jury) is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It is considered the third most prestigious prize at the film festival, after the Palme d'Or and the Grand Prix.

From 1951 until 1966 the name Special Jury Prize was used for the second most important award of the festival. In 1967, the second place was renamed Grand Prize of the Jury and the Special Jury Prize disappeared. Two years later, in 1969, the Jury Prize was created separately from the Grand Prize, and both have been awarded yearly since.

The Special Jury Prize reappeared twice in the 1990s, and one International Jury Prize was awarded in 1946.

The Cannes International Film Festival (French: Le Festival International du Film de Cannes or just Festival de Cannes), is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is the world's most prestigious and publicized film festival. The invitation-only festival is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.

The 2012 Cannes Film Festival took place from May 16 to May 27, 2012. The President of the Jury was the Italian film director Nanni Moretti.

The Cannes Film Festival has its origins in the late 1930s when Jean Zay, the French Minister of National Education, on the proposal of Philippe Erlanger and with the support of the British and Americans,^{[clarification needed]} set up an international cinematographic festival. In 1947, the festival was held as the "Festival du film de Cannes", where films from sixteen countries were presented. Moreover, the principle of equality was introduced, so that the jury was to be made up only of one representative per country. Also, this year the festival was held at the made-for-the-occasion Palais des Festivals, although the roof was unfinished and blew off during a storm. The festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. In 1951, owing to better relations between France and Italy, the Cannes Festival was moved to Spring, while the Mostra remained in Autumn.

Coordinates: 43°33′05″N 7°00′46″E / 43.5513°N 7.0128°E / 43.5513; 7.0128

Cannes (French pronunciation: [kan], in Occitan Canas) is a city located in the French Riviera. It is a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a commune of France located in the Alpes-Maritimes department.

The city is also famous for its various luxury shops, restaurants, and hotels. On 3 November 2011 it played host to the G20 organisation of industrialised nations.

By the 2nd century BC the Ligurian Oxybii established a settlement here known as Aegitna. Historians are unsure what the name means. The area was a fishing village used as a port of call between the Lérins Islands.

In 69 AD it became the scene of violent conflict between the troops of Othos and Vitellius.

In the 10th century the town was known as Canua^{[citation needed]}. The name may derive from "canna", a reed. Canua was probably the site of a small Ligurian port, and later a Roman outpost on Le Suquet hill, suggested by Roman tombs discovered here. Le Suquet housed an 11th-century tower which overlooked swamps where the city now stands. Most of the ancient activity, especially protection, was on the Lérins islands and the history of Cannes is the history of the islands.

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. Increasingly film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings. The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.

The first major film festival was held in Venice in 1932; the other major and oldest film festivals of the world are: Cannes Film Festival (1939), Festival del film Locarno (1946), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (1946), Edinburgh International Film Festival (1947), Melbourne International Film Festival (1951), Berlin International Film Festival (1951) and Toronto International Film Festival (1976).

Amat Escalante (born 28 February 1979 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Mexican director, producer and screenwriter known for his films Sangre and Los Bastardos.

Escalante has spent the majority of his life in Guanajuato, Mexico, though he was born in Barcelona, Spain. He came back to Barcelona to study motion picture editing and sound at the Centre of Cinematographic Studies in Catalunya. Later on he studied at the International School of Film and Television in Cuba. In 2003, he received an award at the Berlin Film Festival for his short film Amarrados. His 2005 film Sangre was included in the section Un Certain Regard at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It was also presented at the Rotterdam Film Festival and the San Sebastian Film Festival. He is a close friend and collaborator of Carlos Reygadas.