Watch these 3 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or-winning movies on Netflix

Culture

The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival will showcase some of the best new films of the year from May 17 to May 28. While filmmakers, and their movies, will be competing for a variety of prizes at the prestigious, invitation-only festival, the top film will be awarded Palme d'Or. According to Cannes, the Palme d'Or is the "enduring symbol of the [Cannes Film Festival], awarded each and every year since [1975] to the director of the best feature film of the official competition."

Prior Palme d'Or winners include masterpieces like Apocalypse Now, Pulp Fiction and Taxi Driver, so any recipient is in great company. Further, more than a few of the films that won their year's Palme d'Or have gone on to secure nominations for best picture or best foreign language film at the Academy Awards. While Cannes is one of the most recognizable names in film, many of the movies that compete (and win) at the festival are foreign, and thus do not generate the same viewership domestically as those that originate in the United States.

This is a shame, considering the quality of the movies selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. So, for those that want to see what they have been missing, Netflix has a few previous Palme d'Or winners available to stream.

1. Kagemusha

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Kagemusha shared the 1980 Palme d'Or with Bob Fosse's All that Jazz, and later went on to be nominated for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards. Kagemusha was directed by Akira Kurosawa, the legendary director of Rashomon, a film considered by many to be one of the greatest ever made. And while Kagemusha may not be quite as historic as Rashomon, it is definitely still worth a watch.

2. Blue Is the Warmest Color

Directed by multiple César Award-winner Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is the Warmest Color won the 2013 Palme d'Or, topping films like Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska and Behind the Candelabra. The film revolves around and explores two young women who develop a relationship. Actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux were also recipients of the award.

3. Deephan

The recipient of the 2015 Palme d'Or was french filmmaker Jacques Audiard for his crime-drama Deephan. The film follows a combatant during the Sri Lankan Civil War, who seeks political asylum in France after the conflict ends. Deephan went on to be nominated for nine César Awards, though failed to win any. Still, a Palme d'Or ain't too shabby.

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