Cannes announces closing ceremony May 23

Festival de Cannes said the 79th edition’s Closing Ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 23, with the feature-film jury led by South Korean director Park Chan-wook set to announce the festival’s top prizes. The ceremony will be hosted by French actor Eye Haïdara, who also presented the opening event on May 12, the festival said. Cannes said the winners will be chosen from 22 films in Competition after screenings that ran across the festival’s May 12-23 schedule. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. local time in Cannes and will be broadcast on France 2 and internationally on Brut. ### Which prizes are being handed out on Saturday night? The festival said the May 23 ceremony will include the Palme d’Or, the Grand Prix, the Jury Prize, awards for best director, best screenplay, best actress and best actor, and the Camera d’Or for a first feature shown in the Official Selection, Critics’ Week or Directors’ Fortnight. Cannes said the winners list will be posted online the same day. (festival-cannes.com) Saturday’s event is the final step in the main Competition, which this year brought together 22 feature films. The official selection page lists titles including Pedro Almodóvar’s “Amarga Navidad,” Asghar Farhadi’s “Histoires Parallèles,” James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Sheep in the Box,” and Léa Mysius’ “Histoires de la nuit.” (festival-cannes.com) ### Who is Park Chan-wook presiding over? Park Chan-wook was named president of the feature-film jury for the 79th festival in March, with Cannes calling it a first for Korean cinema. The festival said Park’s jury also includes Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Isaach De Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes and Paul Laverty. (festival-cannes.com) The festival said Park previously competed at Cannes with “Old Boy,” which won the Grand Prix in 2004, “Thirst,” which won the Jury Prize in 2009, and “Decision to Leave,” which won best director in 2022. On May 23, Park and the jury are due to choose the successor to the 2025 Palme d’Or winner, Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” according to Cannes. (festival-cannes.com) ### Why is Eye Haïdara the host again? Eye Haïdara was named host of both the opening and closing ceremonies by the festival, which said she presented the May 12 opener before returning for the final night on May 23. Cannes did not give a separate explanation in the closing-ceremony release, but it identified her as the presenter for both bookend events of the 79th edition. (festival-cannes.com) The closing ceremony will take place at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, where the jury will reveal the palmarès, or winners list. Cannes said the film that wins the Palme d’Or will then be screened after the ceremony. ### How did the competition reach its final day? The 79th Festival de Cannes runs from May 12 to May 23, according to the festival’s main program pages. (festival-cannes.com) Cannes said the Competition field consisted of 22 films, and its schedule page for May 23 describes the closing ceremony as coming after 12 days of the festival. The festival’s selection page shows the breadth of the final lineup across directors from Europe, Asia and the Americas. (festival-cannes.com) Cannes said the awards page for 2026 would be updated online on Saturday, May 23, as the jury announces the winners. ### Where can viewers follow the result? France 2 will carry the ceremony live in France, and Brut will distribute it internationally, according to Cannes. (festival-cannes.com) The festival also said the full winners list from the 79th edition will be available on its awards page on May 23. Saturday’s next milestones are fixed by the festival schedule: the Closing Ceremony starts at 8:15 p.m. local time, the main jury led by Park Chan-wook will announce the prizes, and the Palme d’Or winner will be screened afterward at Cannes. (festival-cannes.com 1) (festival-cannes.com 2)