Official poster of the 24th Cannes Film Festival, an original illustration by French artist René Ferracci. | |
| Opening film | Gimme Shelter |
|---|---|
| Closing film | The Married Couple of the Year Two |
| Location | Cannes, France |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Awards | Palme d'Or: The Go-Between |
| No. of films | 26 (In Competition) |
| Festival date | 12 May 1971 – 27 May 1971 |
| Website | festival-cannes |
The 24th Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 27 May 1971. French actress Michèle Morgan served as jury president for the main competition. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, then the festival's main prize, was awarded to The Go-Between by Joseph Losey.
This edition paid tribute to Charlie Chaplin and honored him with the title of Commander of the national order of the Legion of Honor.
The festival opened with Gimme Shelter by David Maysles, Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, and closed with The Married Couple of the Year Two by Jean-Paul Rappeneau.
The following feature films competed for the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apokal | Paul Anczykowski | West Germany | |
| Between Miracles | Per grazia ricevuta | Nino Manfredi | Italy |
| The Boat on the Grass | Le Bateau sur l'herbe | Gérard Brach | France |
| Death in Venice | Morte a Venezia | Luchino Visconti | Italy, France |
| Drive, He Said | Jack Nicholson | United States | |
| Family Life | Życie rodzinne | Krzysztof Zanussi | Poland |
| The Flight | Бег | Aleksandr Alov and Vladimir Naumov | Soviet Union |
| The Go-Between | Joseph Losey | United Kingdom | |
| Goya, a Story of Solitude | Goya, historia de una soledad | Nino Quevedo | Spain |
| Joe Hill | Bo Widerberg | Sweden, United States | |
| Johnny Got His Gun | Dalton Trumbo | United States | |
| Lady Caliph | La Califfa | Alberto Bevilacqua | France, Italy |
| Loot | Silvio Narizzano | United Kingdom | |
| Love | Szerelem | Károly Makk | Hungary |
| The Married Couple of the Year Two (closing film) | Les mariés de l'an II | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | France, Italy, Romania |
| Mira | Fons Rademakers | Netherlands, Belgium | |
| Murmur of the Heart | Le souffle au cœur | Louis Malle | France, Italy, West Germany |
| The Panic in Needle Park | Jerry Schatzberg | United States | |
| Pindorama | Arnaldo Jabor | Brazil | |
| Raphael, or The Debauched One | Raphaël ou le débauché | Michel Deville | France |
| Sacco & Vanzetti | Sacco e Vanzetti | Giuliano Montaldo | Italy, France |
| Sick Animals | Animale bolnave | Nicolae Breban | Romania |
| A Soul to Devils | 闇の中の魑魅魍魎 | Kō Nakahira | Japan |
| Taking Off | Miloš Forman | United States | |
| Wake in Fright | Outback | Ted Kotcheff | Australia, United Kingdom, United States |
| Walkabout | Nicolas Roeg | United Kingdom, Australia, United States | |
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:
The following feature films were screened for the 10th International Critics' Week (10e Semaine de la Critique):
The following films were screened for the 1971 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalizateurs):

