After several years in development and missing its planned 2009 and 2010 release dates , '' The Tree of Life '' premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival , where it was awarded the Palme d'Or . It ranked number one on review aggregator Metacritic 's " Top Ten List of 2011 " , and made more critics ' year-end lists for 2011 than any other film . It appeared in the 2012 '' Sight & Sound '' critics ' poll of the world 's top 250 films as well as BBC 's poll of the greatest American films , one of the few 21st-century works to be included in either . The film was also later named the 7th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics . '' The Tree of Life '' received three Academy Award nominations : Best Picture , Best Director and Best Cinematography
2011 Cannes Film Festival
2011 Cannes Film Festival
The Tree of Life (film)