What to Expect at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival: A Star-Studded Lineup!
Exciting Kickoff for Cannes 2026
The prestigious Cannes Film Festival is set to commence from May 12 to 23, 2026, with the French film The Electric Kiss, directed by Pierre Salvadori, opening the event. The full list of films competing was unveiled on April 9, showcasing a mix of renowned directors like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Asghar Farhadi, and Pedro Almodovar, alongside emerging talents such as Ira Sachs. Notably, John Travolta will present his directorial debut, Propeller One-Way, a heartfelt homage to his late son Jett, which will later be available on Apple TV.
The jury will be led by No Other Choice director Park Chan-wook, while filmmaker Peter Jackson and actress Barbra Streisand will be honored with the prestigious Palme d’Or. This year's highlights include Ira Sachs' The Man I Love, a touching narrative about the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York, featuring a stellar cast including Rami Malek and Rebecca Hall. Farhadi will also present his second French film, Parallel Stories, shot in Paris and starring Isabelle Huppert and Vincent Cassel.
Other notable films making their debut include Jane Schoenbrun's Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma with Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, Ron Howard's Avedon, Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell, and Steven Soderbergh's John Lennon: The Last Interview. The complete list of films set to dazzle the French Riviera next month is available below.
Official Selection Overview:Competition
Minotaur, Andrey Zvyagintsev
El Ser Querido, Rodrigo Sorogoyen
The Man I Love, Ira Sachs
Fatherland, Pawel Pawlikowski
Moulin, Laszlo Nemes
Stories Of The Night, Lea Mysius
Fjord, Cristian Mungiu
Notre Salut, Emmanuel Marre
Gentle Monster, Marie Kreutzer
Nagi Notes, Koji Fukada
Hope, Na Hong-jin
Sheep In The Box, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Garance, Jeanne Herry
The Unknown, Arthur Harari
Sudden, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
The Dreamed Adventure, Valeska Grisebach
Coward, Lukas Dhont
The Black Ball, Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
Life Of A Woman, Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
Parallel Tales, Asghar Farhadi
Bitter Christmas, Pedro Almodovar
Out of Competition
Diamond, Andy Garcia
Her Private Hell, Nicolas Winding Refn
L’Abandon, Vincent Garenq
Karma, Guillaume Canet
L’Objet Du Delit, Agnes Jaoui
L’Âge de fer, Antonin Baudry
The Electric Kiss, Pierre Salvadori
Midnight Screenings
Colony, Yeon Sang-ho
Roma Elastica, Bertrand Mandico
Sanguine, Marion Le Coroller
Full Phil, Quentin Dupieux
Jim Queen, Nicolas Athane, Marco Nguyen
Cannes Premiere
Propeller One-Way Night Coach, John Travolta
Kokurojo: The Samurai and the Prisoner, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Heimsuchung, Volker Schlondorff
The Third Night, Daniel Auteuil
Special Screenings
John Lennon: The Last Interview, Steven Soderbergh
Avedon, Ron Howard
Les Survivants du Che, Christophe Réveille
Les Matins Merveilleux, Avril Besson
Un Certain Regard
Everytime, Sandra Wollner
I Am Always Your Maternal Animal, Valentina Maurel
Everything, Sandra Wollner
I’ll Be Gone in June, Katharina Rivilis
Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep, Rakan Mayasi
Congo Boy, Rafiki Fariala
The Meltdown, Manuela Martelli
Club Kid, Jordan Firstman
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Jane Schoenbrun
La más dulce, Laïla Marrakchi
Le Corset, Louis Clichy
Stay tuned for more updates!