The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 79th edition (May 12-23), which will see veteran auteurs Pedro Almodovar, Asghar Farhadi and Hirokazu Kore-eda return to the Croisette.
Scroll down for full line-up
Festival director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference today (April 9) at the Pathe Palace cinema in Paris alongside festival president Iris Knobloch. Frémaux said 2,541 features were submitted - 1,000 more than 10 years ago but down on last year’s record figure of 2,909 submissions.
The festival director named 21 titles in Cannes’ main Competition, which he said would be rounded out by one further title.
The Competition is packed with auteurs such as Almodovar, Farhadi and Kore-eda alongside Paweł Pawlikowski, Ira Sachs, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Laszlo Nemes and Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Several rising directors also made the cut and five female filmmakers are in Competition: Germany’s Valeska Grisebach, France’s Jeanne Herry, Lea Mysius and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, and Austria’s Marie Kreutzer.
There are three Japanese filmmakers and three Spanish directors in the lineup, alongside five French filmmakers.
Lukas Dhont’s First World War drama Coward, which many thought would not be ready for Cannes, is selected. Frémaux said festival programmers only saw the film yesterday. The film explores what heroism and cowardice mean from the perspectives of young soldiers and was partially shot on the actual battlefields near Ypres, Belgium. Both of Dhont’s previous features premiered at Cannes - Girl (2018) in Un Certain Regard and Close (2022) in Competition - with the latter also nominated for an Oscar. The Match Factory is selling.
Hungarian director Nemes, whose debut Son Of Saul won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2015, returns with Moulin, a biopic of French resistance leader Jean Moulin, played by Gilles Lellouche. Again, many thought this might not be ready in time for a Croisette debut.
Polish filmmaker Pawlikowski returns with Fatherland starring Sandra Huller, centring on the relationship between the writer Thomas Mann, played by Hanns Zischler, and his actress, journalist and rally driver daughter Erika, played by Huller, as they embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins. Pawlikowski won the best director prize at the festival in 2018 for Cold War. Mubi has all rights in key territories, including North America, Latin America, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Farhadi also returns with French-language Parallel Tales, which has an all-star French cast including Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, Adam Bessa and Catherine Deneuve. It marks Farhadi’s fifth time in Competition following The Past, The Salesman, Everybody Knows and A Hero. Charades handles international sales, while UTA Independent Film Group reps US rights.
Cristian Mungiu, the Palme d’Or-winning Romanian director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days, premieres Fjord, starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as religious parents of five children, who move from Romania to a small Norwegian village. Neon has pre-bought rights for North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Goodfellas is selling.
Exiled Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev’s last two films (Leviathan, The Loveless) premiered at Cannes and he returns this year with his first feature since 2017, Minotaur. The film, which shot in Latvia, is a political fable about a Russian businessman confronting crisis and trauma in his professional and personal life. Sold by mk2, Mubi has already bought rights in North America, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Latin America.
Ira Sachs, whose Frankie played in Competition in 2019, returns with The Man I Love, set in 1980s New York and billed as “a musical fantasia of a city under duress” when AIDS is wreaking havoc, starring Rami Malek, Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Sachs is the only US filmmaker in Competition so far.
Spanish and Japanese titles
From Spain, Rodrigo Sorogoyen comes with The Beloved (El Ser Querido), starring Javier Bardem as a celebrated filmmaker shooting a 1930s‑set drama in the Sahara desert who is reunited with his daughter, a struggling actress. The director’s previous features include 2022 Cannes Premiere title The Beasts, which went on to win nine of Spain’s Goya awards. Goodfellas is selling.
Almodovar’s Bitter Christmas, which recently opened in Spain, also gets a Competition slot. The story follows Elsa, an advertising director who does not give herself time to mourn the death of her mother, and travels to Lanzarote with her friend Patricia. It will be the Spanish director’s eighth film in Competition.
Also from Spain, filmmaking duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo come with their second feature. The Black Ball is a queer-themed story spanning three years in Spanish history: 1932, 1937 and 2017. The ensemble cast includes Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Lola Dueñas, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González and singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente in his screen debut. Goodfellas is selling.
From Japan, Kore-eda – who won the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters – brings Sheep In The Box, set in the near future about a couple who take a humanoid robot into their home as their son. Goodfellas handles international sales, with Gaga repping Asia.
Oscar winning Japanese director Hamaguchi, who was previously in Competition with Asako I & II in 2018 and Drive My Car in 2021, returns with All Of A Sudden. The Japan-France co-production marks Hamaguchi’s first film shot outside Japan and stars Virginie Efira as a woman running a nursing home beset with staff shortages and Tao Okamoto as a stage director battling terminal cancer.
Japan’s Koji Fukada comes with Nagi Notes, centring on a sculptor living in the shadow of a past love that continues to shape her art. Fukada has previously had three films at Cannes, including Harmonium which played in Un Certain Regard in 2016 and Love on Trial in Cannes Premiere last year. Mk2 is selling.
Making her Competition debut is German director Valeska Grisebach with The Dreamed Adventure. Set in the border region between Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, it is about a woman who agrees to a deal to help an old acquaintance, entering dangerous territory, where she is confronted not only with her own past but also with her desires. Grisebach’s film Western played in Un Certain Regard in 2017.
Promoted to Competition with Gentle Monster is Kreutzer, the Austrian director of Corsage which played in Un Certain Regard. Gentle Monster unites Lea Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve for a drama about a renowned pianist who relocates her family to the countryside and uncovers a life-shattering truth. Mk2 is selling.
French contingent
France’s Lea Mysius jumps into Competition with The Birthday Party, starring Hafsia Herzi, Monica Bellucci and Bastien Bouillon. Mysius’ Ava and The Five Devils both premiered at Cannes, in Critics’ Week in 2017 and Directors’ Fortnight in 2022 respectively.
Also moving into Competition is France’s Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet with A Woman’s Life, after her debut Anais in Love world premiered in Critics’ Week in 2021. The cast includes Léa Drucker and Mélanie Thierry. Told in 11 chapters, it is billed as a contemporary, nuanced and moving portrait of a woman in her fifties. Be For Films is selling.
France’s Emmanuel Marre, who co-directed Critics’ Week 2021 title Rien A Foutre, makes his Competition debut with Notre Salut, a Second World War drama set in Vichy France starring Anatomy Of A Fall’s Swann Arlaud. Charades is handling sales.
France’s Jeanne Herry will premiere Another Day (Garance), which reunites the director with Cannes favourite Adele Exarchopoulos, who plays a gifted young actress who has yet to earn the recognition she craves. Studiocanal handles sales. Herry previously penned the screenplay for Le Royaume, which played in Un Certain Regard in 2024.
Arthur Harari, the Oscar-winning co-writer of Anatomy Of A Fall and director of Onoda, which opened Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2021, is back with The Unknown. Lea Seydoux and Niels Schneider lead the cast of the film about a man who wakes up in the body of an unknown woman. Neon has already snapped up North American rights from Pathe.
Korean filmmaker Na Hong-Jin’s makes his English-language debut with sci-fi thriller Hope, starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Alicia Vikander, Cameron Britton and Michael Fassbender. International sales are handled by Plus M Entertainment and UTA Independent Film Group representing North America. The director’s previous films The Chaser, The Yellow Sea and The Wailing all premiered at Cannes. It marks a return for South Korea having not had a single feature chosen for Official Selection in 2025.
Frémaux hinted that he would be adding one more film to Competition by a high-profile male director. Missing from the Competition lineup this year are anticipated films such as Paper Tiger by US filmmaker and Cannes regular James Gray, and The Entertainment System Is Down by Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund.
Park Chan-wook will preside over the jury. Peter Jackson and Barbra Streisand will receive the honorary Palme d’Or.
Official selection
Competition
- Minotaur, Andrey Zvyagintsev
- The Beloved, Rodrigo Sorogoyen
- The Man I Love, Ira Sachs
- Fatherland, Pawel Pawlikowski
- Moulin, Laszlo Nemes
- The Birthday Party, 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
- Another Day, Jeanne Herry
- The Unknown, Arthur Harari
- All Of Sudden, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
- The Dreamed Adventure, Valeska Grisebach
- Coward, Lukas Dhont
- The Black Ball, Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
- A Woman’s Life, 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
- La Bataille de Gaulle: L’âge de Fer, Antonin Baudry
- The Electric Kiss, Pierre Salvadori (opening film)
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
- The Samurai And The Prisoner, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Visitation, Volker Schlondorff
- When The Night Falls, Daniel Auteuil
- The Match, Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco
Special Screenings
- Rehearsals For A Revolution, Pegah Ahangarani
- Les Matins Merveilleux, Avril Besson
- L’affaire Marie-Claire, Lauriane Escaffre & Yvo Muller
- Avedon, Ron Howard
- Les Survivants Du Che, Christophe Dimitri Réveille
- John Lennon: The Last Interview, Steven Soderbergh
- Cantona, David Tryhorn & Ben Nicholas
Un Certain Regard
- Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma, Jane Schoenbrun
- Elephants In The Fog, Abinash Bikram Shah
- Iron Boy, Louis Clichy
- Ben’imana, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
- Congo Boy, Rafiki Fariala
- Club Kid, Jordan Firstman
- Uļa, Viesturs Kairišs
- Strawberries, Laïla Marrakchi
- The Meltdown, Manuela Martelli
- Forever Your Maternal Animal, Valentina Maurel
- Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep, Rakan Mayasi
- I’ll Be Gone In June, Katharina Rivilis
- Words Of Love, Rudi Rosenberg
- Everytime, Sandra Wollner
- All The Lovers In The Night, Yukiko Sode
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