Cannes runs May 12–23 this year

Cannes is back on its usual spring clock — May 12 through May 23, 2026 — but the bigger story is what kind of festival this looks like. The 79th edition is shaping up as a very director-first Cannes, with the main competition packed with heavyweight auteurs from Europe and Asia and much less emphasis on studio spectacle. Park Chan-wook will preside over the feature-film jury, and Pierre Salvadori’s *The Electric Kiss* will open the festival out of competition. ### What actually starts on May 12? The festival itself. Cannes has locked in a 12-day run on the French Riviera, from Tuesday, May 12, to Saturday, May 23. That sounds basic, but the calendar matters because Cannes is a machine — premieres, jury screenings, market deals, red carpets, reviews, and awards all get compressed into less than two weeks. ### What’s the headline lineup? The Official Selection was unveiled on April 9 and then updated on April 23. (festival-cannes.com) The Competition list is where the tone really shows: Pedro Almodóvar, Asghar Farhadi, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Hirokazu Koreeda, Lynne Ramsay, Cristian Mungiu, Paweł Pawlikowski, Arthur Harari, Lukas Dhont, and Andreï Zvyagintsev are all in the mix. Basically, this is Cannes betting on filmmakers whose names already mean something to critics and buyers. ### Is this a Hollywood Cannes? Not really. There are stars here — there always are — but the spine of the lineup is international art-house cinema. That’s the point. Cannes often balances prestige directors with crowd-pleasing glamour, but this year’s Competition slate reads more like a map of global auteur filmmaking than a parade of English-language studio launches. That doesn’t make it smaller. It makes the festival’s identity clearer. (festival-cannes.com) ### Who’s judging all this? Park Chan-wook is heading the main feature-film jury. The rest of that jury includes Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, Isaach De Bankolé, and Paul Laverty. That’s a pretty mixed table — actors, writers, and directors from several film cultures — which matters because Cannes juries don’t just reward “best movie.” They reward a particular idea of cinema. (festival-cannes.com) ### What opens the festival? *The Electric Kiss* by Pierre Salvadori opens the 2026 edition, and it’s listed out of competition. That’s a familiar Cannes move. The opener sets mood more than it signals the Palme d’Or race. The real awards conversation will come from the Competition titles, but the opening-night film still shapes the first wave of press attention and festival buzz. (festival-cannes.com) ### What about the side sections? They’re busy too. Un Certain Regard opens with Jane Schoenbrun’s *Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma*, and that section includes a lot of first features — exactly where Cannes likes to surface new voices. Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings, and Cannes Premiere are also loaded, with names like Nicolas Winding Refn, Quentin Dupieux, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and Daniel Auteuil. So even outside the Palme race, there’s plenty to watch. (festival-cannes.com) ### Why does the lineup mix matter? Because Cannes still sets the tone for the rest of the movie year. A strong Cannes launch can kick off an awards run, lock in distribution, or turn a little-known director into a global name. When the lineup tilts this hard toward international auteurs, it tells buyers, critics, and rival festivals where the center of gravity is moving this spring — toward prestige world cinema, not franchise noise. (festival-cannes.com) ### Bottom line The simple version is this: Cannes 2026 runs May 12–23, but the real story is the programming choice. This year’s festival looks less like a celebrity showcase and more like a concentrated bet on established global filmmakers — the kind of Cannes that can define the art-house conversation for months. (festival-cannes.com 1) (festival-cannes.com 2)