Cannes to announce Palme d'Or May 23

The Festival de Cannes is due to hand out its top prizes on Saturday, May 23, at the Closing Ceremony of its 79th edition, with South Korean director, screenwriter and producer Park Chan-wook presiding over the jury. The festival said the ceremony will produce the winners list from 22 films in Competition, including the Palme d'Or. (festival-cannes.com) Eye Haïdara is set to host the ceremony, after also presenting the Opening Ceremony on May 12. The awards come a day after Cannes published the winners of its Un Certain Regard section. ### Who is deciding the Palme d'Or this year? Park Chan-wook is serving as president of the feature-film jury for the 79th Festival de Cannes, the festival said when announcing his appointment. (festival-cannes.com) Cannes described his selection as a first for Korean cinema. The official jury will choose the Palme d'Or and the rest of the Competition prizes on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière on May 23. The festival said the jury's task is to select a successor to Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident," which won the 2025 Palme d'Or. Cannes said that prize was presented last year by Juliette Binoche's jury. (festival-cannes.com) ### How many films are in contention tonight? Cannes said 22 feature films are competing for the festival's top prize this year. The official selection page lists those Competition titles, including films by Pedro Almodóvar, Lukas Dhont, Asghar Farhadi, James Gray, Koreeda Hirokazu, Cristian Mungiu, László Nemes, Pawel Pawlikowski and Hamaguchi Ryusuke. (festival-cannes.com) The Competition lineup also includes works by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Arthur Harari, Jeanne Herry, Marie Kreutzer, Léa Mysius, Emmanuel Marre, Andreï Zviaguintsev, Ira Sachs and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, according to the official selection page. Cannes has not yet announced the winners list. (festival-cannes.com) ### What has Cannes already awarded before the main ceremony? Sandra Wollner's "EVERYTIME" won the Un Certain Regard Prize, Cannes said in its winners list for that section published on May 22. The festival also awarded the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard to "ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG" by Abinash Bikram Shah and the Special Jury Prize to "IRON BOY" by Louis Clichy. (festival-cannes.com) The same official list said Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset won Best Actor for "CONGO BOY," while Marina de Tavira, Daniela Marín Navarro and Mariangel Villegas shared Best Actress for "SIEMPRE SOY TU ANIMAL MATERNO." Those awards were separate from the main Competition prizes due later on Saturday. (festival-cannes.com) ### What else is fixed about the ceremony itself? Saturday's Closing Ceremony will be hosted by Eye Haïdara, the festival said in its May 22 press release. Cannes also said the ceremony would be broadcast live by France Télévisions in France and by Brut. internationally. The festival's press materials place the ceremony at the end of an edition that ran from May 12 to May 23. (festival-cannes.com) Cannes has framed the event as the point at which the jury unveils the full palmarès from the Competition lineup. ### Where can readers track the result once it is announced? (festival-cannes.com) The Festival de Cannes said the winners list will be announced on Saturday, May 23, during the Closing Ceremony and published through its official channels. The festival's press area and main site have already posted the ceremony notice and the Un Certain Regard results, and those pages are expected to carry the Competition winners after the announcement. (festival-cannes.com) May 23 is the final day of the 79th edition, and the next concrete milestone is the publication of the full palmarès naming the 2026 Palme d'Or winner and the other Competition prize recipients selected by Park Chan-wook's jury. (festival-cannes.com)