The Prix Jean Vigo is an award in the French cinema given annually since 1951 to a French film director, in homage to Jean Vigo. Since 1960, the award has been given to both a director of a feature film and to a director of a short film. The award is usually given to a young director, for their independent spirit and stylistic originality.

The Jean Vigo Prize has been awarded since 1951 as a tribute to film director Jean Vigo. It was created by Claude Aveline,^[1] the executor of Jean Vigo's will, Vigo's daughter Luce Vigo, and a number of filmmakers. Members of the first jury, in 1951, included Jacques Becker, Jean Cocteau, Paul Gilson, Georges Sadoul, and Luce Vigo.^[2]

The award recognizes films "for their inventiveness, originality and intellectual independence."^[3] The goal of the award is to "recognize a future auteur, [to] discover through him a passion and a gift," according to the 2018 jury.^[4]

• 1951: La Montagne est verte (short) by Jean Leherissey
• 1952: La Grande Vie by Henri Schneider
• 1953: Crin Blanc (short) by Albert Lamorisse
• 1954: Les statues meurent aussi (short) by Alain Resnais and Chris Marker
• 1955: Émile Zola (short) by Jean Vidal
• 1956: Nuit et brouillard (short) by Alain Resnais
• 1957: Léon la lune (short) by Alain Jessua
• 1958: Les Femmes de Stermetz (short) by Louis Grospierre
• 1959: Le beau Serge by Claude Chabrol

• 1960: À bout de souffle by Jean-Luc Godard
• 1961: La Peau et les os by Jean-Paul Sassy and Jacques Panuel
• 1962: La Guerre des boutons by Yves Robert
• 1963: Mourir à Madrid by Frédéric Rossif
• 1964: La Belle Vie by Robert Enrico
• 1965: not awarded
• 1966: La Noire de... by Ousmane Sembène
• 1967: Who Are You, Polly Magoo? by William Klein
• 1968: O Salto by Christian de Chalonge
• 1969: L'Enfance nue by Maurice Pialat

• 1970: Hoa Binh by Raoul Coutard
• 1971: Remparts d'argile by Jean-Louis Bertucelli
• 1972: Continental Circus by Jérôme Laperroussaz
• 1973: Absences répétées by Guy Gilles
• 1974: Un homme qui dort by Bernard Queyssanne and Georges Perec
• 1975: Histoire de Paul by René Féret
• 1976: L'Affiche rouge by Frank Cassenti
• 1977: Paradiso by Christian Bricout
• 1978: Bako-l'autre rive by Jacques Champreux
• 1979: Certaines nouvelles by Jacques Davila

• 1980: Ma blonde entends-tu dans la ville ? by René Gilson
• 1981: Le Jardinier by Jean-Pierre Sentier
• 1982: L'Enfant secret by Philippe Garrel
• 1984: Vive la sociale! by Gérard Mordillat
• 1985: Le Thé au harem d'Archimède by Mehdi_Charef
• 1986: Maine-Ocean Express by Jacques Rozier
• 1987: Buisson ardent by Laurent Perrin
• 1988: La Comédie du travail by Luc Moullet
• 1989: Chine ma douleur by Sijie Daï

• 1990: Mona et moi by Patrick Grandperret
• 1991: Le Brasier by Éric Barbier
• 1992: Paris s'éveille by Olivier Assayas
• 1993: Les histoires d'amour finissent mal... en général by Anne Fontaine
• 1994: Trop de bonheur by Cédric Kahn
• 1995: N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir by Xavier Beauvois
• 1996: Encore by Pascal Bonitzer
• 1997: La Vie de Jésus by Bruno Dumont
• 1998: Dis-moi que je rêve by Claude Mourieras
• 1999: La vie ne me fait pas peur by Noémie Lvoski

• 2000:
  • Saint-Cyr by Patricia Mazuy
  • De l'histoire ancienne by Orso Miret
• 2000: Les Filles de mon pays (short) by Yves Caumon
• 2001: Candidature by Emmanuel Bourdieu ex-æquo with Ce vieux rêve qui bouge by Alain Guiraudie
• 2002: Royal Bonbon by Charles Najman
• 2003: Toutes ces belles promesses by Jean-Paul Civeyrac
• 2004: Quand je serai star by Patrick Mimouni
• 2005: Les Yeux clairs by Jérôme Bonnell
• 2006: Le Dernier des fous by Laurent Achard
• 2007: La France by Serge Bozon
• 2008: Nulle part, terre promise by Emmanuel Finkiel
• 2009: L'Arbre et la Forêt by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau

• 2010: Un poison violent by Katell Quillévéré
• 2011: Les Chants de Mandrin by Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
• 2012: L'Âge atomique by Héléna Klotz
• 2013: L'Enclos du temps by Jean-Charles Fitoussi
• 2014: Mange tes morts by Jean-Charles Hue
• 2015: La Peur by Damien Odoul^[5]
• 2016: La Mort de Louis XIV by Albert Serra
• 2017: Barbara by Mathieu Amalric
• 2018: Shéhérazade by Jean-Bernard Marlin ex-æquo with Knife+Heart by Yann Gonzalez
• 2019: Vif-Argent by Stéphane Batut

• 2020: Énorme by Sophie Letourneur^[6]
• 2021: Petite Solange by Axelle Ropert
• 2022: Saint Omer by Alice Diop

• 1960: Enfants des courants d'air by Édouard Luntz
• 1961: not awarded
• 1962: 10 juin 1944 by Maurice Cohen
• 1963: La Jetée by Chris Marker
• 1964: La Saint-Firmin by Robert Destanque
• 1965: Fait à Coaraze by Gérard Belkin
• 1966: not awarded
• 1967: not awarded
• 1968: Désirée by Fernand Moszkowicz
• 1969: Le Deuxième Ciel by Louis-Roger

• 1970: La Passion selon Florimond by Laurent Gomes
• 1971: Derniers hivers by Jean-Charles Tacchella
• 1972: not awarded
• 1973: Le Soldat et les trois sœurs by Pascal Aubier
• 1974: Septembre chilien by Bruno Muel and Théo Robichet
• 1975: La Corrida by Christian Broutin
• 1976: Caméra by Christian Paureilhe
• 1977: not awarded
• 1978: not awarded
• 1979: Nuit féline by Gérard Marx

• 1980: not awarded
• 1981: not awarded
• 1982: Lourdes, l'hiver by Marie-Claude Treilhou
• 1983: La Fonte de Barlaeus by Pierre-Henri Salfati
• 1984: not awarded
• 1985: Épopine ou le Fer à repasser by Michel Chion
• 1986: Poussières d'étoiles by Agnès Merlet
• 1987: Pondichéry, juste avant l'oubli by Joël Fargès
• 1988: Elle et lui by François Margolin
• 1989: Le Porte-plume by Marie-Christine Perrodin

• 1990: Elli Fat Man by Michel Such
• 1991: La Vie des morts by Arnaud Desplechin
• 1992: Des filles et des chiens by Sophie Fillières
• 1993: Faits et gestes by Emmanuel Descombes
• 1994: 75 centilitres de prières by Jacques Maillot
• 1995: Tous à la manif by Laurent Cantet
• 1996: not awarded
• 1997: Soyons amis ! by Thomas Bardinet
• 1998: Les Corps ouverts by Sébastien Lifshitz
• 1999: Le Bleu du ciel by Christian Dor

• 2000: Les Filles de mon pays by Yves Caumon
• 2001: Ce vieux rêve qui bouge by Alain Guiraudie
• 2002: L'Arpenteur by Michel Klein and Sarah Petit
• 2003: La Coupure by Nathalie Loubeyre
• 2004: La nuit sera longue by Olivier Torres
• 2005: La Peau trouée by Julien Samani
• 2006: De sortie by Thomas Salvador
• 2007: Silêncio  [fr] by F. J. Ossang [fr]
• 2008: Les Paradis perdus by Hélier Cisterne
• 2009: Montparnasse by Mikhael Hers

• 2010: La République by Nicolas Pariser
• 2011: La Dame au chien by Damien Manivel
• 2012:
  • La Règle de trois by Louis Garrel
  • La Vie Parisienne by Vincent Dietschy
• 2013: Le Quepa sur la vilni ! by Yann Le Quellec
• 2014: Inupiluk by Sébastien Betbeder
• 2015: Le Dernier des Céfrans by Pierre-Emmanuel Urcun^[5]
• 2016: Le Gouffre by Vincent Le Port
• 2017: Le Film de l'été by Emmanuel Marre
• 2018: L'Amie du dimanche by Guillaume Brac
• 2019: Braquer Poitiers by Claude Schmitz

• 2020: Un adieu by Mathilde Profit
• 2021: Le Roi David

Spain's Punto de Vista International Documentary Film Festival presents the Premio Jean Vigo to the best director. The award aims to strengthen both the spirit that originally inspired the festival and the festival's commitment to the work of Jean Vigo. The creation of this prize was made possible thanks to the close ties between Punto de Vista and the family of the French filmmaker.

In 2005, the festival paid tribute to Vigo on the centenary of his birth. Luce Vigo, film critic and daughter of Vigo and Elizabeth Lozinska, attended that year. The festival provided a retrospective of Vigo's entire filmography and also represented the first step in a relationship that resulted in the award. The festival took its name, Punto de Vista (English: "point of view"), as a tribute to Vigo, the first director to refer, in the 1930s, to a “documented point of view” as a distinctive sign of a form of filmmaking that commits the filmmaker.

• Prix Jean Vigo at IMDb