It was: Ira Sachs, Pedro Almodóvar, Asghar Farhadi, Hirokazu Kore-eda leading the Arthouse-heavy lineup

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival lineup, which took shape during its unveiling Thursday in Paris, promises a mix of established and emerging artistic voices, but perhaps less robust than recent editions from the world’s largest film festival, although French stars Léa Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve alone will bring two films to the competition program.

Other big names who will be in films at Cannes 2026 include the likes of Rami Malek (in Ira Sachs). the man i love)Renate Renette and Sebastian Stan (in Christian Mungiu’s English-language debut). Fjord,) Isabelle Huppert (in the Iranian film by Asghar Farhadi). Parallel stories), Sandra Holler (in Homeland From Paweł Pawlikowski) and Javier Bardem (in Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Beloved), but organizers acknowledged the lack of Hollywood studio performances at this year’s edition of the festival. Sachs is the only American director on the competition program.

However, a large number of art lovers will head to the south of France to premiere their new films on the Croisette. Among them are the likes of Sachs, Pedro Almodovar, Farhadi, Hirokazu Koreda, Marie Kreutzer, Laszlo Nemes, Volker Schlöndorff, Jean Schönbrunn, Mungio, Lukas Dönt, Pawlikowski, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Artistic Director Thierry Frémaux, alongside President Iris Knobloch, discussed the official selection, the famous Un Certain Regard sidebar and other parts of the 79th edition’s programme, also highlighting the fact that five of the 20 films unveiled in the competition, or 25 percent, are by female directors.

Cannes’ lineup is not complete, which means they will add more titles in the coming weeks. But among the names that have been proposed for this year’s festival, according to what I reported THRThose who did not appear on Thursday’s list were the likes of Joel Cohen, Takashi Miike, Lars von Trier, Radu Judd, Werner Herzog and James Gray, who paper tigerwith a cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Miles Teller, would bring serious star power to the Croisette.

Last week, Cannes revealed that the 2026 edition would open with Pierre Salvadori’s 1920s film. No electric venus (Electric kissOn May 12, following the opening ceremony hosted by actress Ain Haidara. He also unveiled the world premiere of John Travolta’s directorial debut, One-way night coachin selection for the premiere of the Cannes Film Festival.

Jaafar Panahi It was just an accident It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year. South Korean director Park Chan-wook is the famous director behind it Big boy, the maid and There is no other choicee, will be President of the Jury at Cannes 2026, where he will head the group that will select this year’s award winners.

Given the festival’s importance to the independent circuit and awards season – Oscar nominees and winners Emotional value, It was just an accident, Secret agentand Sirat All of which premiered at Cannes last year – distributors and audiences will be combing the 2026 selection for signs of breakouts this year.

Among the big-name creatives already selected for Cannes is New Zealand director W Lord of the Rings Director Peter Jackson will receive an honorary Palme d’Or for his life’s work at this year’s festival, as will EGOT Award-winning actress, singer and director Barbra Streisand. The 79th session of the Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 12 to 23.

Knobloch began Thursday’s proceedings by highlighting that “the news from around the world is reassuring.” So why organize a film festival at such a “time of great uncertainty”? She stressed that “he was born at a time of great uncertainty, in 1939.” She said that bringing together filmmakers at the time “was not a luxury, but a necessity” to show “the ability to dream” and human beings at their best. Knobloch highlighted the need for a space of freedom and a space that allows important people and issues to be seen.

In the age of artificial intelligence and major conflicts, Cannes has also been described as “a landmark in a hurricane, not a closed fortress but a place where values ​​do not adapt to the wind.”

Early in the press conference, Fremaux said that “the language of cinema had triumphed” after concerns about the death of cinema, suggesting that it was alive and well even on social media. He pointed out that programmers at the Cannes Film Festival were busy watching films, as 2,541 films were submitted this year from 141 countries, noting that submissions increased by 1,000 compared to 10 years ago.

Check out the full lineup for Cannes 2026, as revealed on Thursday, below.

a race
MinotaurAndrey Zvyagintsev

MulanLaszlo Nemes

Date nightLeah Misius

FjordChristian Mungiu

Notre SalutEmmanuel Marie

The unknownArthur Harary

All snapRyusuke Hamaguchi

The adventure you dreamed ofValeska Griesbach

cowardLukas Dont

Black ballJavier Ambrosi and Javier Calvo

Life of a womanCharlene Bourgeois-Tackett

Parallel storiesAsghar Farhadi

Bitter ChristmasPedro Almodovar

Elephants in the mistAbinesh Bikram Shah

Iron boyLouis Clichy

BenimanaMarie Clementine Dosabegambo

Congo boyMy friend Faryala

UļaVestors Cairis

La mas dulce (strawberry)Laila Marrakchi

Forever your mother animalValentina Morel

Words of loveRudy Rosenberg

Kokorojo: Samurai and PrisonerKiyoshi Kurosawa

The third nightDanielle Auteuil

MatchJuan Cabral and Santiago Franco

Scott Roxborough contributed to this report.