Every year, the Cannes Festival awards its Caméra d'Or prize to the director of the best debut feature. The winner will be announced at the Festival Closing Ceremonies, Sunday, May 24, by a Jury chaired by French actor and director Roschdy Zem. His fellow jurors are cinematographer Diane Baratier, filmmaker Sandrine Ray, critic Charles Tesson, Edouard Waintrop of the Fribourg Festival in Switzerland, and Olivier Chiavassa of the Fédération Française des Industries Techniques du Cinéma. They will be judging first films selected by four different sections: the Official Competition, Certain Regard, Directors' Fortnight, and Critics Week.

In the Official Selection, the films eligible for the Caméra d’Or are: Eyes Wide Open by Haim Tabakman (Un Certain Regard); Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton (Un Certain Regard); A Town Called Panic by Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier (Out of Competition); A Brand-New Life by Ounie Lecomte (Out of Competition); Petition by Zhao Liang (Special Screening); No Meu Lugar by Eduardo Valente (Special Screening); and Ashes and Blood by Fanny Ardant (Special Screening).

The Directors Fortnight pictures vying for the award are: I Killed My Mother by Xavier Dolan, I Love You Philip Morris by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, The Wolberg Family by Axelle Ropert, Here by Ho Tzu-Nyen, Daniel y Ana by Michel Franco, Eastern Plays by Kamen Kalev, and Les Beaux gosses by Riad Sattouf.

Critics Week debut features, also eligible: Hierro by Gabe Ibáñez, Ordinary People by Vladimir Perisic, Karaoke by Chan Fui (Chris) Chong, Huacho by Alejandro Fernández Almendras, Lost Persons Area by Caroline Strubbe, Bad Day to go Fishing by Alvaro Brechner, Whisper with the Wind by Shahram Alidi, Adieu Gary by Nassim Amaouche, Lascars (Round da Way) by Albert Pereira Lazaro and Emmanuel Klotz, and Rien de personnel by Mathias Gokalp.