Cannes 2026 runs May 12–23

Cannes is done teasing and has basically switched into operational mode. The 79th Festival de Cannes is set for May 12 through May 23, 2026, with actress Eye Haïdara hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, the online ticket office opening May 4, and the booking process becoming accessible on May 8. The bigger point is that the festival is no longer just a list of rumored titles — it now has a formal lineup, late additions, and a working schedule that tells the industry this year’s race is real. ### What’s actually locked in now? The dates are firm, and so is the basic shape of the event. Cannes unveiled its Official Selection on April 9, then updated it on April 22 with additions to the lineup. That matters because Cannes often starts as a moving target — filmmakers, buyers, publicists, and critics all wait to see what makes the cut and what sneaks in late. By early May, that uncertainty is mostly gone. ### Who is hosting the festival? Eye Haïdara is the mistress of ceremonies for the 2026 edition. She follows Laurent Laffitte and will lead both the opening and closing ceremonies. Cannes also tied her role directly to the May 12 launch, when Pierre Salvadori’s opening film *La Vénus électrique* premieres at the Grand Théâtre Lumière right after the ceremony. ### Which films are leading the main competition? The Competition slate is stacked with exactly the kind of directors Cannes likes to turn into the center of the movie conversation. Pedro Almodóvar is in with *Amarga Navidad*, Asghar Farhadi with *Parallel Tales*, Ryusuke Hamaguchi with *Alerland*, Ira Sachs with *The Man I Love*, and Andrey Zvyagintsev with *Minotaur*. The official list shows 23 Competition titles in all. ### Was James Gray really a late addition? Yes — and that’s one of the cleaner examples of how Cannes finalizes its slate. The April 22 update added films that were announced but not fully placed when the first lineup dropped. *Paper Tiger* appears in Competition on the updated official list, which means the festival used its usual second-wave reveal to sharpen the main event rather than just pad sidebars. ### What about the rest of the selection? Outside Competition, Cannes has its usual spread of sidebars and showcases — Un Certain Regard, Midnight Screenings, Cannes Premiere, and Special Screenings. One title getting attention in Un Certain Regard is Zachary Wigon’s *Victorian Psycho*. That matters the sections just outside the main competition. ### Where does the Marché du Film fit in? The festival and the market run side by side, but they do different jobs. The festival is the showcase — premieres, prizes, prestige. The Marché du Film is the business engine, with more than 250 industry events on the 2026 schedule and the usual flood of screenings, meetings ### Why does early May matter so much? Because this is when Cannes stops being gossip and starts being logistics. Ticketing opens, screening plans get built, press teams lock travel, and buyers decide where to spend their time. In festival terms, this is the moment the Croisette starts to come into focus — not glamorous yet, but decisive. 2026 now looks less like a rumor board and more like a finished machine. The dates are set, the host is named, the Competition slate is deep, and the late additions are already in. What happens next is the part people actually remember — premieres, reviews, sales, and whatever film leaves Cannes looking like the one to beat.