| Best Screenplay Award | |
|---|---|
| Prix du scénario (French) | |
2025 recipients:Dardenne Brothers | |
| Awarded for | Best Achievement in Writing |
| Country | France |
| Presented by | Cannes Film Festival |
| First award | 1949 |
| Currently held by | Dardenne Brothers Young Mothers (2025) |
| Website | www |
TheBest Screenplay Award (French:Prix du scénario) is an award presented by the Jury to the best screenwriter for their work on a film of the Official Selection of theCannes Film Festival.
It was first awarded toAlfred L. Werker,Eugene Ling &Virginia Shaler forLost Boundaries (1949).
WinnersDenys Arcand forThe Barbarian Invasions (2003),Ryusuke Hamaguchi &Takamasa Oe forDrive My Car (2021) andCoralie Fargeat forThe Substance were later nominatedAcademy Awards for their screenplays.










| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Alfred L. Werker,Eugene Ling andVirginia Shaler | Lost Boundaries |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Terence Rattigan | The Browning Version | |
| 1952 | Piero Tellini | Cops and Robbers | Guardie e ladri |
| 1958 | Pier Paolo Pasolini,Massimo Franciosa andPasquale Festa Campanile | Young Husbands[A] | Giovani mariti |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Dumitru Carabat,Henri Colpi andYves Jamiaque | Codine | |
| 1965 | Ray Rigby | The Hill | |
| Pierre Schoendoerffer | The 317th Platoon | La 317ème section | |
| 1967 | Alain Jessua | The Killing Game | Jeu de massacre |
| Elio Petri | We Still Kill the Old Way | A ciascuno il suo | |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Steven Spielberg,Hal Barwood andMatthew Robbins | The Sugarland Express |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Furio Scarpelli,Agenore Incrocci andEttore Scola[B] | La Terrazza | |
| 1981 | István Szabó | Mephisto | |
| 1982 | Jerzy Skolimowski | Moonlighting | |
| 1984 | Thanassis Valtinos,Theo Angelopoulos andTonino Guerra[C] | Voyage to Cythera | Ταξίδι στα Κύθηρα |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Michel Blanc | Grosse fatigue | |
| 1996 | Jacques Audiard andAlain Le Henry | A Self Made Hero | Un héros très discret |
| 1997 | James Schamus | The Ice Storm | |
| 1998 | Hal Hartley | Henry Fool | |
| 1999 | Yuri Arabov | Moloch | Молох |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | James Flamberg andJohn C. Richards | Nurse Betty | |
| 2001 | Danis Tanović | No Man's Land | Ničija zemlja / Ничија земља |
| 2002 | Paul Laverty | Sweet Sixteen | |
| 2003 | Denys Arcand | The Barbarian Invasions | Les Invasions barbares |
| 2004 | Agnès Jaoui andJean-Pierre Bacri | Look at Me | Comme une image |
| 2005 | Guillermo Arriaga | The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | |
| 2006 | Pedro Almodóvar | Volver | |
| 2007 | Fatih Akin | The Edge of Heaven | Auf der anderen Seite |
| 2008 | Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | Lorna's Silence | Le Silence de Lorna |
| 2009 | Mei Feng | Spring Fever | 春風沉醉的夜晚 |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Lee Chang-dong | Poetry | 시 |
| 2011 | Joseph Cedar | Footnote | הערת שוליים |
| 2012 | Cristian Mungiu andTatiana Niculescu Bran | Beyond the Hills | După dealuri |
| 2013 | Jia Zhangke | A Touch of Sin | 天注定 |
| 2014 | Andrey Zvyagintsev andOleg Negin | Leviathan | Левиафан |
| 2015 | Michel Franco | Chronic | |
| 2016 | Asghar Farhadi | The Salesman | فروشنده |
| 2017 | Yorgos Lanthimos andEfthymis Filippou | The Killing of a Sacred Deer | |
| Lynne Ramsay | You Were Never Really Here | ||
| 2018 | Jafar Panahi andNader Saeivar | 3 Faces | سه رخ |
| Alice Rohrwacher | Happy as Lazzaro | Lazzaro felice | |
| 2019 | Céline Sciamma | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu |
| Year | Screenwriter(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Ryusuke Hamaguchi andTakamasa Oe | Drive My Car[1] | ドライブ・マイ・カー |
| 2022 | Tarik Saleh | Boy from Heaven[2] | صبي من الجنة |
| 2023 | Yuji Sakamoto | Monster[3] | 怪物 |
| 2024 | Coralie Fargeat | The Substance[4][5] | |
| 2025 | Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | Young Mothers | Jeunes mères |