Cannes Film Festival 2026: 21 films to compete for the Palme d'Or

The Cannes Film Festival has announced that 21 films have been selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in 2026. The selection committee reviewed 2,541 films from 141 countries. Among the 21 competing films, eleven are from "newcomer" directors, making their first appearance in the official selection. Festival General Delegate Thierry Frémaux noted that established filmmakers like Spain's Pedro Almodóvar, Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Romania's Cristian Mungiu are also among the contenders. Almodóvar is making his seventh appearance in competition, while Kore-eda and Mungiu are vying for their second Palme d'Or. The festival's general delegate highlighted the absence of blockbusters, emphasizing the presence of independent cinema from outside the studio system and Los Angeles. Frémaux described the current state of cinema as "quite formidable" in terms of productivity and creativity, reflected in the official selection. He mentioned a notable presence of historical films, covering themes such as the French Resistance, the Spanish Civil War, the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and World War I. Hungarian director László Nemes, Grand Prix winner in Cannes in 2015 for Son of Saul, will present "Moulin," a film about French Resistance hero Jean Moulin. Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi will present his new film, "Parallel Stories," filmed in France. Outside the competition, the festival will feature the French production "The Battle of de Gaulle: The Iron Age," the first part of a