Cannes Film Festival starts May 12

Cannes starts on Tuesday, May 12, but the real story is already visible before anyone climbs the steps. The 79th edition has its final shape now — 22 films in Competition, Park Chan-wook presiding over the jury, and Pierre Salvadori’s *The Electric Kiss* opening the festival out of competition. But the more revealing news is what didn’t make the lineup: Werner Herzog’s *Bucking Fastard*, which was invited but declined. ### What exactly starts on May 12? The festival runs from May 12 to May 23 on the Croisette, and Cannes has already published both the official selection and the screenings guide. The Competition slate is unusually stacked with returning heavyweight directors — Pedro Almodóvar, Asghar Farhadi, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Cristian Mungiu, László Nemes, Paweł Pawlikowski, Ira Sachs, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Andrey Zvyagintsev are all in the mix. That tells you what kind of year this is: not a discovery year first, but an auteur year. (festival-cannes.com) ### Who decides the winner? Park Chan-wook does — or more precisely, Park and the jury he chairs. Cannes named him president of the 2026 Competition jury, calling it a first for Korean cinema. The rest of the jury includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga, Isaach De Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Paul Laverty, and Diego Céspedes. That matters because Cannes juries are never neutral machines — the makeup can tilt the temperature of the prize, especially in a year this director-heavy. (festival-cannes.com) ### What’s the opening-night movie? It’s *The Electric Kiss* by Pierre Salvadori. Cannes lists it as the opening film and explicitly labels it out of competition. That sounds like a small programming detail, but it’s actually a useful reminder of how Cannes works: opening-night prestige and awards eligibility are not the same thing. A film can get the spotlight without entering the Palme race. (festival-cannes.com) ### So why is Herzog the real pre-festival story? Because he said no. Variety reported that *Bucking Fastard* received an invitation to Cannes but not a Competition slot, and Herzog’s team declined the offer. The reason was strategic: screening outside Competition would have made stars Kate Mara and Rooney Mara ineligible for acting prizes. In other words, Herzog treated Cannes not as a guaranteed honor, but as a category system with consequences. (festival-cannes.com) ### Why does that matter so much? Because Cannes is now doing two jobs at once. It’s still the world’s most glamorous movie festival, but it also functions like an awards bracket and market signal. A Competition berth says one thing. Un Certain Regard says another. Out of Competition says something else again. Herzog’s move makes that logic visible — if the slot doesn’t match the campaign, the prestige alone may not be worth it. (variety.com) ### What does the lineup tell us? It tells us Cannes is leaning hard into established filmmakers while still using sidebars to launch newer voices. The main Competition has 22 films. Un Certain Regard includes several first features, and Cannes added more titles after the initial April 9 announcement in an April 22 update. Basically, the festival is trying to do both things at once — crown a major auteur winner and keep its discovery pipeline alive. (festival-cannes.com) ### Is the festival already shaping the awards race? Yes — before the first screening. That’s the catch with Cannes now. Selection itself is part of the race. A Competition slot can instantly elevate a film’s awards profile. A non-Competition berth can limit what’s on the table. And a refusal, like Herzog’s, can become its own signal that a team thinks the movie has bigger prize ambitions elsewhere. That’s an inference, but it fits the incentives Cannes sets up. (festival-cannes.com) ### Bottom line? Cannes begins on May 12, but the sorting has already happened. The lineup says who’s in the top tier, the jury says what kind of winner might emerge, and Herzog’s rejection says the prestige economy around Cannes has gotten sharper than ever. (festival-cannes.com)