The 23rd Cannes Film Festival ran from 3 to 18 May 1970. This year, Robert Favre LeBret, the founder of the festival, decided not to include any films from Russia and Japan (their flags were missing on the Croisette). He was tired of the "Slavic spectacles and Japanese samurai flicks.". The Russians took back their juror Sergei Obraztsov (head of Moscow puppet theater) and left the jury panel with only eight members.
Nobel Prize for Literature winner Miguel Ángel Asturias was appointed as President of the Jury. At the time, he was serving as ambassador from Guatemala to France. The Palme d'Or went to the MASH by Robert Altman. The festival opened with Les Choses de la vie, directed by Claude Sautet and closed with Le Bal du Comte d'Orgel, directed by Marc Allégret.
Jury
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1970 film competition:
Feature films
Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemalan Nobel Prize) Jury President
Guglielmo Biraghi, critic (Italy) Kirk Douglas, actor (USA) Christine Gouze-Rénal, producer (France) Vojtěch Jasný, director (Czechoslovakia) Félicien Marceau, playwright (France) Sergey Obraztsov, puppeteer (Soviet Union) Karel Reisz, filmmaker (UK) Volker Schlöndorff, filmmaker (West Germany) Short films Fred Orain (producer) Jerzy Płażewski, critic (Poland) Vincio Delleani (Italy)
Official selection
In competition - Feature film
The following feature films competed for the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film:
The Alienist (Azyllo Muito Louco) by Nelson Pereira dos Santos
The Buttercup Chain by Robert Ellis Miller
Don Segundo Sombra by Manuel Antín
The Dreamer (Ha-Timhoni) by Dan Wolman
Elise, or Real Life (Élise ou la vraie vie) by Michel Drach
The Falcons (Magasiskola) by István Gaál
Fruit of Paradise (Ovoce stromu rajských jíme) by Věra Chytilová
Harry Munter by Kjell Grede
Hoa-Binh by Raoul Coutard
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto) by Elio Petri The Land (Al-Ard) by Youssef Chahine Landscape After the Battle (Krajobraz po bitwie) by Andrzej Wajda Last Leap (Le dernier saut) by Édouard Luntz Leo the Last by John Boorman Long Live the Bride and Groom (¡Vivan los novios!) by Luis García Berlanga Malatesta by Peter Lilienthal MASH by Robert Altman Metello by Mauro Bolognini The Palace of Angels (O Palácio dos Anjos) by Walter Hugo Khouri The Pizza Triangle (Dramma della gelosia - tutti i particolari in cronaca) by Ettore Scola A Simple Story (Une si simple histoire) by Abdellatif Ben Ammar The Strawberry Statement by Stuart Hagmann Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon by Otto Preminger The Things of Life (Les Choses de la vie) by Claude Sautet Tulips of Haarlem (I tulipani di Haarlem) by Franco Brusati
Films out of competition
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
The Ball of Count Orgel (Le Bal du Comte d'Orgel) by Marc Allégret
Mictlan o la casa de los que ya no son by Raúl Kamffer
The Territory of Others (Le territoire des autres) by Gérard Vienne, Jacqueline Lecompte, Michel Fano and François Bel They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Sydney Pollack Tristana by Luis Buñuel The Virgin and the Gypsy by Christopher Miles Voyage Chez Les Vivants by Henry Brandt Woodstock by Michael Wadleigh
Short film competition
The following short films competed for the Prix du Jury:
A Day With the Boys by Volker Schlöndorff
Comme Larrons En Foire by Edmond Freess
El diablo sin dama by Eduardo Calcagno
Et Salammbo? by Jean-Pierre Richard
Gipsy Pentecost (The Feast of St. Sara) by Laurence Boulting
Kaleidoski by Jacques Ertaud
L'autre silence by Nestor Matsas
Light (Lumière) by Paul Cohen
Magic Machines by Bob Curtis
Smrtici vone (Le parfum mortel) by Vaclav Bedrich
The Epitaph by Gurucharan Singh
Un temps pour la mémoire by Georges Pessis
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 9th International Critics' Week (9e Semaine de la Critique):