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Cannes 2026: Everything to know about the film festival
The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be in full swing until May 23rd, 2026. Numéro shares with you the latest updates and news about the event chaired by director Park Chan-wook, from the directors, actors and actresses in attendance to the new features in competition.
By Violaine Schütz.
Published on 9 January 2026. Updated on 22 May 2026.
A few days ahead of the competition, the press and film industry are already thrilled by one of this year’s major cinematic events. Indeed, official information about the selection for the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 12th to 23rd, 2026, has been unveiled. Numéro takes stock.
Demi Moore in the jury of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival
On February 26th, the Cannes Film Festival revealed the name of the president of the jury, succeeding Juliette Binoche and Greta Gerwig. Screenwriter and producer Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Decision to Leave, The Handmaiden) will chair this year’s edition, thus becoming the first South Korean filmmaker to take on this role.
He will be joined by American actress Demi Moore, Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga, Belgian director Laura Wandel, Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao, Chilean director Diego Céspedes, Ivorian-American actor Isaach De Bankolé, Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård.
Eye Haïdara will host the 79th edition
Although the names of the members of the jury remain unknown for now, we already know who will host the 79th ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival. Franco-Malian actress Eye Haïdara will succeed Laurent Lafitte in this role. Seen in À toute allure, Les Femmes du square, Six jours, Ce printemps-là and C’est la vie!, she will thus follow in the footsteps of Doria Tillier, Virginie Efira, Chiara Mastroianni and Camille Cottin.
Leïla Bekhti to chair the category Un Certain Regard
In April 2026, the name of the president of the jury for Un Certain Regard was made official. Following in the footsteps of British director Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex), French actress Leïla Bekhti will chair this category at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. She will be joined by four international jurors — producer Angèle Diabang, composer Khaled Mouzanar, filmmaker Laura Samani, and director Thomas Cailley (The Animal Kingdom).
Théodore Pellerin joins the jury of the Critics’ Week
Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia will chair the 65th edition of the Critics’ Week, held aside from the Cannes Film Festival. She will be joined by Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin, acclaimed at the 2025 Critics’ Week and awarded a César in 2026, singer-songwriter Oklou, as well as Ghanaian-British producer Ama Ampadu. Journalist Donsaron Kovitvanitcha rounds up this eclectic jury.
As for the 2026 Queer Palm jury, it will be co-chaired by actress Anna Mouglalis and stage director Thomas Jolly. Raya Martigny, Jehnny Beth and André Fischer, founder of the MixBrasil festival, will join them.
Peter Jackson, Claire Denis and Barbra Streisand will receive an award
News also came out that New Zealand director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, Braindead) will receive an honorary Palme d’Or during the opening ceremony of the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Besides, singer, actress, producer and director Barbra Streisand (The Way We Were, Funny Girl) will also be awarded an honorary Palme d’Or. This distinction celebrates a rich and eclectic career, nearly forty years after she became the first woman to win the Golden Globe for Best Director for Yentl (1983). On May 13th, Claire Denis will receive the Carrosse d’Or during the opening ceremony of Quinzaine des Cinéastes.
Thelma and Louise, stars of the festival’s beautiful poster
Once again, the Cannes Film Festival has unveiled a great poster. This year, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, from Ridley Scott’s cult film Thelma & Louise (1991), are under the spotlight. In this feminist feature, the charismatic actresses play two women fleeing patriarchy and male violence. This powerful image of sisterhood sends a strong message — the film industry is embracing the improvement made thanks to the #MeToo movement… Aesthetically speaking, at least. As for the films in competition, the full list was unveiled on April 9th, 2026.
The official selection of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival
Features in competition for the Palme d’or
- Minotaur by Andrey Zvyagintsev, starring Iris Lebedeva, Anatoli Bely, Dmitri Mazurov
- Amarga Navidad by Pedro Almodóvar
- Moulin by László Nemes, starring Gilles Lellouche, Lars Eidinger…
- Notre Salut by Emmanuel Marre, starring Swann Arlaud, Sandrine Blancke…
- The Beloved by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, starring Javier Bardem, Marina Foïs…
- Sheep in the Box by Hirokazu Kore-eda, starring Haruka Ayase, Kotaro Daigo…
- Hope by Na Hong-jin, starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Alicia Vikander…
- La Bola Negra by Los Javis, starring Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Penélope Cruz…
- Fjord by Cristian Mungiu, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve…
- Nagi Notes by Koji Fukada, starring Takako Matsu, Shizuka Ishibashi…
- All of A Sudden by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, starring Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto
- Parallel stories by Asghar Farhadi, starring Virginie Efira, Isabelle Huppert…
- The Unknown by Arthur Harari, starring Léa Seydoux and Niels Schneider…
- Coward by Lukas Dhont
- The Birthday Party by Léa Mysius, starring Hafsia Herzi, Bastien Bouillon…
- The Man I Love by Ira Sachs, starring Rami Malek
- Gentle Monster by Marie Kreutzer, starring Léa Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve…
- Fatherland by Paweł Pawlikowski, starring Hanns Zischler, Sandra Hüller…
- A Woman’s Life by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, starring Léa Drucker, Mélanie Thierry
- Another Day by Jeanne Herry, starring Adèle Exarchopoulos, Sara Giraudeau…
- Das Geträumte Abenteuer by Valeska Grisebach
Out of competition
- La Vénus Électrique by Pierre Salvadori (opening film)
- L’Abandon by Vincent Garenq, starring Antoine Reinartz
- Diamond by Andy Garcia, starring Brendan Fraser, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Demián Bichir, Vicky Krieps…
- Karma by Guillaume Canet, starring Marion Cotillard, Denis Ménochet
- L’object du délit by Agnès Jaoui, starring Daniel Auteuil, Agnès Jaoui, Eye Haïdara
- De Gaulle: Tilting Iron by Antonin Baudry, starring Simon Abkarian, Simon Russell Beale, Florian Lesieur, Benoît Magimel
- Her Private Hell by Nicolas Winding Refn, starring Sophie Turner
Un Certain Regard
- Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma by Jane Schoenbrun (opening film)
- All the Lovers in the Night by Yukiko Sode
- Everytime by Sandra Wollner
- Words of Love by Rudi Rosenberg
- I’ll Be Gone in June by Katharina Rivilis
- Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep by Rakan Mayasi
- Forever Your Maternal Animal by Valentina Maurel
- The Meltdown by Manuela Martelli
- Strawberries by Laïla Marrakchi
- Ula by Agnieszka Iwańska
- Club Kid by Jordan Firstman
- Congo Boy by Rafiki Fariala
- Ben’Imana by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
- Iron Boy by Louis Clichy
- Elephants in the Fog by Abinash Bikram Shah
Midnight Screenings
- Roma Elastica by Bertrand Mandico, starring Marion Cotillard and Ornella Muti
- Full Phil by Quentin Dupieux, starring Kristen Stewart, Woody Harrelson and Charlotte Le Bon
- Jim Queen by Marco Nguyen, Nicolas Athane
- Colony by Yeon Sang-ho
- Sanguine by Marion Le Corroller, starring Mara Taquin, Karin Viard, Kim Higelin
Cannes Premiere
- Propeller One-Way Night Coach by John Travolta
- Visitation by Volker Schlöndorff
- The Samurai and the Prisoner by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- The Match by Juan Cabral
- La Troisième Nuit by Daniel Auteuil, starring Antoine Reinartz, Grégory Gadebois
Special Screenings
- John Lennon: The Last Interview by Steven Soderbergh
- Les Matins Merveilleux by Avril Besson
- Richard Avedon by Ron Howard
- Rehearsals for a Revolution by Pegah Ahangarani
- Les Survivants du Che by Christophe Dimitri Réveille
- L’Affaire Marie-Claire by Lauriane Escaffre and Yvo Muller
- Cantona by David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas
Cannes Critics’ Week
- In Waves by Phuong Mai Nguyen (opening film)
- Stonewall by Julien Gaspar-Oliveri,
- Flesh and Fuel by Pierre Le Gall
- A Girl Unknown by Zou Jing
- The Station by Sara Ishaq
- Dua by Blerta Basholl
- Seis Mese en el edificio rosa con azul by Bruno Santamaría Razo
- La Gradiva by Marine Atlan
- Tin Castle by Alexander Murphy
- Viva by Aina Clotet
- Adieu Monde Cruel by Félix de Givry (closing film)
The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 12th to 23rd, 2026.
