Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director

Best Director Award
Prix de la mise en scène (French)
The 2025 recipient: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Awarded forBest Achievement in Direction
CountryFrance
Presented byCannes Film Festival
First award1946
Currently held byKleber Mendonça Filho
The Secret Agent (2025)
Websitewww.festival-cannes.com/en/

The Best Director Award (French: Prix de la mise en scène) is an award presented annually at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival.

At the 1st Cannes Film Festival held in 1946, René Clément was the first winner of this award for his work on The Battle of the Rails, and Kleber Mendonça Filho is the most recent winner in this category for his work on The Secret Agent at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in 2025.